


Liam's Friendly Stray

by FlyRobinFly



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Anger Management, Angry Liam Dunbar, Beta Liam Dunbar, Beta Stiles Stilinski, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Cute, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Gay Theo Raeken, Good Alpha Derek Hale, Good Theo Raeken, Liam Being an Idiot, Liam is a Good Friend, Living Together, M/M, Minor Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Misunderstandings, Not much of a plot, Oblivious Liam, Post-Canon, Protective Theo Raeken, Short Chapters, Slow Burn, Theo Has a Crush on Liam, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-22 13:32:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 26,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14309745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyRobinFly/pseuds/FlyRobinFly
Summary: After the Anuk-Ite was defeated and Gerard and the majority of the hunters were taken care of, Liam is left to take care of Beacon Hills while Scott and the others are doing their part, where ever they are, in tracking down Monroe. With the exception of the occasional band of hunters, Liam is left with very little to keep himself busy. Apparently, he's a chip off the old block that is Scott because he ends up taking in a stray that's surprisingly friendly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Scott gone, Liam has trouble keeping his anger at bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters are going to be fairly short in this fic, btw.
> 
> This is my first Teenwolf fanfic so I hope it's good ;)

Sometimes Liam hated being on the team without Scott there. Actually, all the time he hated it. It was so much easier for him to lose control. The only people there to keep an actual eye on him were Mason and Corey. But there was really a whole lot they could do. Corey might be stronger than most humans but it didn't match Liam's when he was angry. Not to mention he had claws and fangs.

There was a lacrosse game tonight and Beacon Hills had to win it. According to Coach, they were all a bunch of losers though but what's new?

"Dumbar! Get your ass off the bench and get on the front line!"

"Yes, Coach," Liam responded begrudgingly. There was a bitterness, an anger in his voice. He started to get up and walk onto the field when Coach stopped him.

"Hey!" he shouted in his face making Liam wince. It's not like he had to shout. He was right there in front of him and he also had enhanced hearing. "Don't get angry on me Dumbar! Keep it together and channel that anger into focus, OK?! Focus!"

"Yes, Coach..." he mumbled. He could feel his eyes starting to shift. They were always the first things to go.

"Try again," said Coach. "What was that?"

"I said, Yes Coach!" he shouted but it didn't help with it at all. He was starting to growl, fangs bore.

Coach shook his head in disappointment. "Go run it off. Nolan is going to pull your weight this game since you can't keep it together!"

That just made Liam angrier. He hadn't had any issues with his anger recently and it was probably catching up to him. He had t get it together. He started breathing while he shook his head. "It's OK, Coach." He panted and heaved. "I can do it."

He sat on the bench and started reciting the mantra that Stiles had taught him and Scott always made him repeat whenever he had problems. Coach shouted at all the other players as they got ready for the game and Liam took a good five minute to calm down enough to play.

The game was rough. He almost lost it five times until Coach benched him for the rest of the game. Mason came and sat behind him. "Hey, man. What's goin' on? You OK?" he asked shaking Liam's shoulder.

Liam shook his head disappointed in himself. "I... I don't know."

Like usual, Corey wasn't far behind. "I think I might know what's going on?"

Liam and Mason looked at him waiting for an explanation.

"It's cause he doesn't have his Alpha, his pack," said Corey.

Mason nodded. "Corey's probably right, Liam. You're a pack animal. You're no good on your own."

Liam sent him a glare. "Thanks, Mason. That's really comforting."

"Relax man," said Mason. "Me and Corey are your pack. So you're not really alone."

Liam scoffed and shook his head. "Guys, I'm your third wheel."

Corey and Mason shrugged as if it shouldn't matter. "So?" asked Corey.

"That sucks!" Liam said chucking his helmet on the ground.

Mason drew in a breath. "Ooooh. I know what it is. It's about Hayden, isn't it?"

Liam furrowed his brow and looked at Mason feeling betrayed. "Thanks. Thank you for reminding me that my first love left Beacon Hills because I couldn't protect her enough so she felt safe-"

"Liam," said Mason. "You know that's not why she left. I mean... it wasn't your fault. I don't think anyone can really make Beacon Hills a safer place."

Corey shrugged. "I honestly think she left because of Theo." Mason and Liam looked at him questioningly. "Well, you were the one who brought him back and even after the Wild Hunt had been defeated, you didn't send him back.-"

"What does that have to do with Hayden?" asked Liam.

"Well, she hated Theo and I kinda remember her telling you multiple times to send him back into the ground and you never listened to her," said Corey.

"That's cause Theo's different now," said Liam. "He's... more human."

"Liam, didn't you learn the lesson the first time?" asked Corey. "Theo is the actual definition of a Nightmare dressed like a day dream. Remeber how manipulative he was? Do you really want to take a chance on that?"

Liam sighed and shook his head looking away. He didn't expect either of them to understand. They hadn't been alone with Theo like he had. They hadn't faught with Theo by their side since he'd been back. They hadn't been saved by Theo. He stood up knowing he wasn't going to be in the rest of the game. "I'm gonna go home. I'll see you guys on Monday."

"Liam-"

"Bye, Corey. Bye Mason." He left without another word. He didn't even tell Coach or go change in the locker room. He just ran. He ran into the woods on the preserve, he could feel himself getting angry. He needed to shift. He needed to shout and push someone. But there was no one he could touch without hurting them.

He thought about all the things that Corey and Mason had said about Hayden. Sure, he was heartbroken over her leaving but he'd completely forgotten about her until they brought it up. But what Corey said about him missing his Alpha, that hit home. It had to be what the problem was. He was a beta. He needed his Alpha to give him guidence. He couldn't do it on his own.

The further he went into the woods, the angrier he got. The anger felt good until he collapsed to his knees and let out a pained howl that echoed through the forest. He'd let it out. That's what he needed to do. He needed to let it out. He needed to yell.

**...**

Theo was laying in the back of his truck trying to pass the time. He hated his life now. He had nothing to occupy his time, nothing to live for. He didn't even know how to live his own life. When he'd been brought back to help Scott's pack fight the Wild Hunt, he at least had that to keep him busy. But now he had nothing. He lived in his truck and the only way he could make money was by picking people's pockets.

Part of him hated himself for doing it but it's what he had to do to survive. That's what he's always been doing. Surviving.

He remembered the first moments of being back, he felt threatened. That's why he attacked Liam. The only person he ever saw in hell always tried to rip out his heart. He could remember all the times that people had said that he needed to go back into the ground because of what he'd done.

There was no denying it. He deserved hell. He realized that now. He'd done a lot of bad things and he hated himself for it. He deserved to die. But... somehow he'd been given a second chance and he wasn't sure if he'd already messed it up or not yet. But he hoped he hadn't. He hoped that one day he could be a part of someone's pack. He didn't want to be Alpha or Beta. He just wanted to have that protection and security.

He'd felt it when he'd fought with Liam. When he'd first gotten back, he was actually afraid of Liam. Well, not Liam per say, but what Liam could do. Liam was the one with the sword and he could send him back. But that fear went away when he broke the sword. He was surprised he had done it. He sounded pathetic begging for Liam to break it but he didn't want to go back. He would do anything to never go back.

He... felt something. A bond of sorts. He didn't understand it at all. He chalked it up to Liam being the person who brought him back and broke the sword. But he also remembered in the hospital. Liam had saved him. He'd never been saved before, not without an ulterior motive. That's when he realized he actually cared. Liam didn't deserve to be sent to the Wild Hunt but he did. So he saved him. And it wasn't the last time he'd saved his ass. He couldn't help himself.

Theo didn't even know what he was still doing in this town. He had nothing here. No reason, no purpose. He'd stopped by the high school to see if he'd even qualified as a graduate but they said he'd have to do his second semester over again. He left Miss Martin's office without another word but he ended up in boys' bathroom saving Liam once again.

The second semester started in two months. He wasn't sure how he'd do it without anyone finding out he was living in his car. He didn't want to have to deal with whatever the school district would do to that. He was legally and adult so they shouldn't ask questions.

He was in the middle of contemplating whether or not he really wanted to finish high school when he heard it. There was a pained howl to the south of the feild he was parked in, undoubtabally trespassing, in the middle of the preserve. He sat up. He knew that howl.

"Liam." 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo finds Liam in the woods and gives him a ride home.

Liam was still trying to calm down. He was almost there but he wanted to hit something. If Scott and Stiles were here, he would definitely hit Stiles. Sometimes he got on his nerves. It would be better though if Theo wa-

"Liam?"

Liam perked up and turned around. There he was. Theo Raeken. Liam's eyes glowed and he growled.

"You OK?" Theo asked. But Liam seemed to not care. He got up from the ground and charged at him throwing a fist directly at his face. Theo grunted and fell back on the ground holding his nose. As he sat up wiping the blood from his face he frowned at Liam. "Wow. I come to make sure you're OK and you break my nose."

Liam stood up and let out a breath as he deflated. Apparently, all he needed to do was punch Theo to cool down. He put his hands on his hips as he awkwardly looked down at Theo. Where'd he even come from?

"Why do you like breaking my nose so much?" Theo asked putting his hand up gesturing for Liam to help him up.

Liam stared at it for a second before he jumped into action and helped him up. "Sorry. I just... I was angry."

"At me?" Theo asked rolling his eyes. He didn't even know why he bothered with Liam anymore. He only ever got punched by him.

"No," said Liam patting him on the shoulder. "I've just been holding too much in and I needed to hit someone and..." He motioned at the woods around them. "There's no one else here."

Theo frowned at him. "So you hit me, the innocent bystander who was coming to make sure you weren't in danger."

"You came to make sure I was OK?" asked Liam sounding surprised.

"Well, yeah. I've got nothing better to do," said Theo shrugging.

That comment got Liam thinking. What had Theo been up to? He'd seen him around town in his truck before but that's it. Liam pondered on this while he just stared at Theo confused which made the latter uncomfortable.

"Look, you wanna ride home?" asked Theo trying to get Liam to stop staring at him.

Liam sighed and finally looked away. "Sure. I should text my parents and let them know..." Liam trailed off when he realized he'd left his phone in his locker at school.

"What?"

"Oh. Dammit. I left my phone at school," said Liam looking at Theo again. "Can I-"

Theo pulled his phone out and handed it to Liam. "No problem."

Liam, again, was surprised at how eager Theo was to help him lately. He dialed his mom's number and let Theo lead the way to his truck. After a moment his phone beaped and Liam pulled it away. "Huh. Must be behind on your phone bills or something. It didn't work."

"Oh. Yeah," said Theo taking his phone back and putting it in his pocket. "I forgot." He didn't usually have people to call recently so he didn't bother paying for something he couldn't afford.

Liam followed Theo through the woods in silence until they got to Theo's truck. Which was in the middle of a feild. "What's your truck doing in the middle of a feild?"

Theo shrugged trying to come up with a lie. "Well... I was... I thought..." He couldn't do it. He couldn't lie to Liam after all the things he'd done for him. He sighed. "I was sleeping."

Liam walked up to the passenger door. "In your truck?"

Theo unlocked it with his button and they both got in. "Well, it's a step above a dumpster or the tunnels the Dread Doctors had me living in." He started his truck and drove onto the road.

Liam looked in the back of Theo's truck and saw the blankets and a pillow spread out messily on the seat. On the floor there was a duffle bag and some stray clothes that he assumed were dirty. "You've been living in your truck since you've been back?" Why didn't Liam think of that? Theo was his responsability. He should have made sure he had a place to stay. He mentally hit himself for letting that slip passed him.

Theo shrugged. "It's not like I have a lot of friends who will put me up," Liam stated. "I'm not exactly a friendly face to people around here."

Liam slumped and relaxed into the seat of the truck. "And you never said anything to anyone?"

"Liam..." he said with a grin on his lips. For some reason that Liam didn't understand, Theo actually seemed happy. He wasn't just grinning. He was smiling. But he'd done that before when they were at the zoo and he had to knock him out five times. "Come on, man. I'm Theo. Remember when I was the bad guy? You think anyone would've even cared?"

"Mellisa and Scott have a thing for taking in strays," said Liam.

"Yeah," agreed Theo ringing his hands around his steering wheel, slightly uncomfortable. He saw looked at his gas gage. Empty. Great. He was running on fumes. "But both Scott and Mellisa hate me. So I doubt that would go over well. Hey, Mrs. McCall. Remember me? I'm Theo. That murderous, manipulative chimera that worked with the Dread Doctors. Can I stay in your spare room? Yeah. I don't think that would work."

Liam rolled his eyes. "I wasn't just talking about Scott."

"Then who?" Theo questioned. "You think that-that Derek or Peter are gonna take me under their wing. I certainly hope not. See, I'm trying _not_ to be like them."

"Like what?"

Theo held his breath for a minute before he let it out and admitted, "Alone."

"Oh..." Liam let things go silent for a moment before he made a confession himself. "I wasn't talking about Derek or Peter either."

Theo was a bit uneasy at this point. He shifted in his seat and avoided eye contact with Liam.

"You could've told me," said Liam. "Noshiko told me that since I brought you back, you were _my_ responsibility."

Theo looked at him incredulously. "Your responsibility?"

"That's what she said," said Liam. "I just... thought she meant it would be my fault if you like killed people or something. I didn't think about your living situation."

"I think it was about the killing people," Theo said eyeing his gas gage which was a bit pointless since he already knew it was empty. But it was only a matter of time before he ran out.

Liam sighed. "Theo, I'm trying to tell you that you can stay at my place if you want.-"

"Your place?" Theo sent him another incredulous look. "You're kidding right?"

"No, Theo," said Liam. "I'm not like everyone else, OK? I know you're different now. I mean... you'll always be Theo but you're different." Liam looked over at Theo who was clearly contemplating something. "I also need someone I can take my anger out on."

Theo rolled his eyes. "And there's the ulterior motive I was looking for."

"You know, Theo. Not everyone does nice things with an ulterior motive."

"So basically, you're saying I can stay at your place if I let you hit me?"

"Well, only if or when I get angry and need to punch someone," said Liam. "But with you around, I'll probably get angry a little bit more. You just... have a way of-"

"Dammit," Theo cursed and pressed on the gas harder but the truck only started to slow down.

"What?"

"What do you think, dumbass? We ran out of gas?"

"We?"

Theo growled and rolled his eyes. "I ran out of gas."

"OK..." Liam mumbled. "So you're living in your car, you haven't paid your cell phone bill, and now you're out of gas." Liam looked at Theo who looked very frustrated and even smelled of humiliation. "Sounds like you're really livin' the life, Theo." Theo only responded by pounding his head on the steering wheel causing a loud honking noise throughout the streets near the outskirt of Beacon Hills.

**...**

"Thanks for coming, Dad," said Liam. He'd wandered down the streets a little and borrowed someone's phone. His dad came to pick them up after his shift at the hospital about an hour later. He gave him the rundown about Theo. Before Scott left, he had to tell his parents that he was a werewolf. So he just told his dad that Theo was had a rough past and was given a second chance and that he'd probably tell him more later.

David smiled at Liam before he reached a hand out to Theo. "I'm David. You must be Theo."

Theo smiled and shook the man's hand. "That's me."

"You guys are friends?" said David sounding like more of a question.

Liam and Theo looked at each other before shrugging. Theo gave Liam a friendly slap on the back. "He's alright."

"Right," said David. "He tells me you're going to stay over tonight. Do your parents know?"

Liam made an awkward noise. "Um. Actually, Dad-"

"My parents aren't gonna be a problem," said Theo. "I'm 18. I was in the foster system growing up..." He sort of lied about that part but it wasn't entirely inaccurate. His parents were killed by the Dread Doctors a long time ago.

"Oh," said David. "Well, I guess we have some common ground then. I was in the foster system for a while as well."

"It sucks," Theo said bitterly earning a jab in his side from Liam. 

"Well," said David opening the back of his car. "I brought some gas. Your mom is home worried sick about you, Liam." He picked up the tank of gas and passed it to Theo. "You got it?"

Theo nodded courteously and said his thanks.

David returned his attention to Liam. "Coach called and said you ran off without saying anything. No one could find you."

Liam sighed and kicked the gravel a little bit. "I know, Dad..." He looked up at him with his eyes. "I've been having a hard time controlling my anger recently."

"Lucky, I found him I guess," said Theo dumping the gas into his tank.

"So... uh..." said David. "Was it like a werewolf thing or something?"

"He knows?" Theo growled at Liam from not let him know ahead of time.

"It explains a lot of ... unexplainable things that have happened at the hospital," said David pulling his keys out of his pocket. "I have to run some errands before I head home. Liam, have Theo park in the garage. That way your mom can leave early without having to wake him up to move his truck." He pulled a button off on his key ring and tossed it to Liam. "Your mom is warming up leftovers."

Theo handed the empty tank of gas to David. "Thanks, Dr. Geyer."

"Liam's friends call me David, Theo." David gave the boy a firm shoulder shake. "I'll see you in a bit."

Theo waved as the man drove off and turned to see Liam kicking up some gravel. He was... anxious. Which was a bit odd. There wasn't much of a reason for Liam to be anxious. But then Theo stopped to think and smell himself. OK. Maybe it was him that was anxious. "OK, Liam. Let's get out of here."

They got in the care and Liam obnoxiously started making sniffing noises. Theo looked at him with an annoyed expression. "Which one of us smells?" asked Liam.

Theo rolled his eyes and turned on his truck. "I think you should be asking yourself which one of us lives in his truck."

"Dude." Liam pulled his jersey up to his nose and breathed in deeply. "I smell bacon. Do you smell that?"

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam lets Theo stay at his place for a nice since he figured out he was living in his truck. Theo gets a little taste of having a family.

Liam's mother, Jenna, was very friendly. Actually, both of his parents were friendly. Theo barely remembered his own parents but he knew that they weren't like this. "So, Theo," Jenna said as she cleaned up the kitchen while the boys ate. "What do you do? Are you going to school or planning on it?"

Theo bobbed his head in consideration as he set his drink down. "I talked to the school counselor about getting my diploma. She said I'd have to do the second semester over for some of my credits. I've been thinking about it."

"Well, what's keeping you from finishing?" she asked.

"Uh... I guess I just don't know if I want to stay in Beacon Hills. Or if it's even worth it," he added negatively taking a bite of food.

Jenna chuckled but not very humorously. "Worth it? It's high school. If you want to ever do something then you kinda have to finish it."

"Well, I don't really have anything to do," said Theo. "Liam is probably the first person I've had contact with that wasn't a deputy pounding on my window to tell me to move my car in at least three weeks."

"You haven't tried to get a job?" she asked putting some things in the fridge.

"Mom, can you stop grilling him?" Liam asked politely.

Theo wasn't sure if he was supposed to protest to Liam's request or just let it slide. He wasn't sure how family dynamics actually worked around here. He just looked between Liam and Jenna before deciding to remain silent and eating his dinner in peace. When he was finished he stood up and walked his plate to the sink to wash it. "Oh, sweetie. That's OK. You don't have to do that."

Theo turned and looked at her with a look of utter confusion. He was supposed to clean up after himself, right? She patted him on the cheek before booting him away from the sink. Wait... did she call him, Sweetie? He stood in the middle of the kitchen for a moment with no idea what to do next.

"Liam, why don't you and Theo go upstairs?" Jenna suggested. "I'll clean up-"

"Dr. Geyer said you were leaving early in the morning," said Theo. "I'm sure you could leave cleaning up to Liam and I."

Jenna turned and smiled at Theo adoringly. She turned her head to Liam. "Liam, your friend is a better son than you are," she teased playfully.

Liam visibly pouted. "Friend is a strong word."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Alright. Alright. I guess I can let you boys clean up. Liam, get up and help Theo."

Liam rolled his eyes as he stood to follow his mother's orders. She said her good nights to them and made sure to give Theo a kiss on the cheek before she went off to bed. Theo's heart fluttered as he watched her go. He didn't want her to leave him. She was so nice. But then again, she might not know about his dark past yet and that would change everything, he was sure.

**...**

"Dude, you're even worse than Corey at video games," teased Liam.

Theo shrugged. "I'm not even sure I ever have played them before. But, watch out, _Dumbar_. I learn quickly." Theo violently killed Liam's character with a mischevious laugh.

"Ah. What?" Liam whined. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know," admitted Theo. "I'm just pressing random buttons."

"No!" said Liam over dramatically. "That's not fair!" Theo just smiled and set down his controller and rested his head against the foot of Liam's bed. He noticed a stack of controllers beneath Liam's TV and sent him a questioning look. "Oh... Yeah. Sometimes I get angry when I play video games and break the controllers. Especially since Scott bit me. My claws ruin them."

Theo raised an eyebrow at Liam. "Well, if video games make you angry, then maybe you shouldn't play them."

"You make me angry," Liam offered.

"What doesn't make you angry?" Theo asked earning a shrug from Liam. "With Scott gone, how do you do it? Wasn't he your anchor?"

Liam let out an exasperated sigh. "He's my Alpha, not my anchor."

"And now you're a Beta without your Alpha or your pack," Theo pointed out. "You should probably find an anchor."

"Easier said than done," said Liam propping himself up against the foot of his bed like Theo had done. The two of them sat in silence, not uncomfortabally. Eventually, Liam started playing against Mason on X-box live.

 _"Liam, what happened to you?"_ asked Mason through the com. _"We lost you."_

"Yeah... I had to go for a run," Liam said.

 _"I thought I heard you howling in the woods,"_ Mason said as they continued to play against each other. Theo made himself comfortable on Liam's bed while he watched them play. _"Are you alright?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Liam. "Theo gave me a ride home."

_"Theo?"_

"Yeah," said Liam. "Theo."

 _"Where's he even been anyways,"_ Mason asked. _"He totally disappeared on us."_

"He's been around," Liam states. "But he just happened to be near when I howled. He came to make sure I was OK."

Theo felt a bit weird listening in on their conversation especially since they were talking about him. _"And?"_

"And what?"

_"Were you OK?"_

"Yeah. After I broke his nose."

 _"So you broke his nose and he offered to give you a ride home?"_ asked Mason. _"Does he have an ulterior motive?"_

"You know he's right here, right?" asked Liam.

_"What?"_

"Theo's here," said Liam. "He can hear you."

"Hi, Mason," Theo called out hoping he was loud enough for the other boy to hear.

 _"Oh,"_ Mason said. _"Hey, Theo."_ Mason definitely sounded a bit awkward knowing Theo was there. _"What's he doing there, at your house, at this hour?"_

"He's staying the night," said Liam.

 _"The night?"_ asked Mason. _"Like a sleepover?"_

"Uh..."

Theo interrupted. "Liam owes me a favor, Mason. Don't worry about it."

Mason paused pregnantly. _"Yeah, but... what kind of a sleepover?"_

Liam groaned. "Mase, you're the gay one. Remember? Not me."

_"Right. Right. But is he staying in the guest room or..."_

Theo hid an embarrassed grin in the mattress when Liam turned around and looked at his expression. "Mason, you're making things awkward."

 _"Well, maybe if there wasn't tension between the two of you then it wouldn't be awkward,"_ Mason suggested with a playful chuckle afterward.

Liam rolled his eyes. "Mason, are you done?"

 _"For now, I guess,"_ he said. _"So you wanna pull an all-nighter playing X box? It's Friday."_

"I'll stay up for a few hours, I guess."

_"What about Theo? Does he want to play?"_

Liam turned to look at Theo for an answer and received a shake of a head. Theo stayed and watched them play for a little while. He listened to their banter and actually enjoyed it. The sound of other people talking was something he hadn't had in a while and it was pleasant, lulling him to sleep a little.

When he yawned he decided he should probably get up and go to bed before he fell asleep on Liam's bed. He sat up and gave Liam's shoulder's a friendly squeeze. "I'm gonna go to bed, Liam," said Theo climbing off the bed. "I'll see you in the morning."

Liam watched as he was going. "Hey, Theo." Theo turned to Liam to see a small smile. "Good night." That made Theo smile as he went across the hall. He passed by David who appeared to be on his way to Liam's room. Theo stopped in the doorway of the guest room and listened to Dr. Geyer tell him to turn down the volume so he and his wife could sleep which made Theo chuckle. It was kinda funny that Liam had it so loud if he had such good hearing. He probably didn't even think about it though.

Theo climbed into bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. It'd just been so long since he'd slept on an actual bed. Theo would've stayed up thinking about the kindness Liam and his parents had shown him but he was just too tired and the bed was so nice. He was going to enjoy it while he could. He could ponder it when it was over.


	4. Chapter 4

Theo slept at least five hours before his nightmares woke him up with a start. He then proceeded to lay there staring at the ceiling knowing he wouldn't get back to sleep. But he couldn't get up at least until he heard Mrs. Geyer get up. He remembered she was leaving early but he didn't know how early.

After at least four hours, he'd gotten restless. "Screw it." He sat up and threw himself out of bed. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the sink to wash his face. He stared at himself in the mirror for a good twenty minutes trying to figure out who the hell he was but no matter how hard he tried, he just kept seeing no one. He didn't know who he was or what he was supposed to do.

Finally, around five thirty, he heard an alarm go off from downstairs. He let out a pent-up breath and headed downstairs. Jenna was already in the kitchen getting her morning coffee started. When she turned around to leave, she jumped at the sight of Theo. She put a hand over her heart. "Theo! You scared the hell out of me."

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

"What are you doing up this early?" she asked as she pulled a mug out of the cupboard.

"I couldn't sleep," he answered taking a seat on a stool at the breakfast bar.

"Oh, was it the bed or something?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. It's my head. I can only take so much of the nightmares before I wake up."

"You want some coffee?" she asked grabbing another mug. "Sounds like you might need the caffeine."

Theo nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

"Do you always have nightmares?" she asked getting out a jar of oatmeal from the fridge. Theo guessed she'd put it in there last night so she had something to eat for breakfast the next morning.

"No," said Theo. "It mostly just happens whenever I sleep."

"I'm sorry," she said sweetly filling up his mug with coffee. "That doesn't sound fun."

He shook his head. "It's not but it's what I have to deal with."

"So do you have any plans today?" she asked.

"Playing it by ear," he said lifting the mug of coffee and taking a sip. "Why?"

"Well, Liam told me about your situation-"

Theo's shoulders slumped. "Of course, he did."

"I know it's hard for people to except help but I want you to at least stay for the rest of the weekend," she said placing her hand on his. "You're a sweet kid. I think you deserve to sleep in an actual bed every once and a while."

Theo scoffed and shook his head. "I don't think Liam told you the entire situation." She frowned and sent him a questioning look. "I'm not... a good person."

"But you're trying to be, aren't you?" she asked.

Theo shrugged. "Trying."

Jenna smiled again and turned around in the kitchen to work on more things. "No one is perfect, Theo." Theo sighed and tapped his fingers against the mug. He knew she was right but it still didn't feel like enough. "Look, Theo. You and Liam aren't that different. You're both part of the... weird supernatural universe and you both have done things that you regret. Now I don't know exactly what you did but I know I'm willing to look past it if I see you taking steps to make that change cause Liam needs a friend he can fight with."

"Yeah," said Theo. "I know he does. That's why he broke my nose last night."

Jenna sent Theo a look. "He broke your nose?!-"

"Don't worry about it," said Theo. "He does it all the time. I don't mind as long as I can get in a few punches myself."

She sighed. "Is it a werewolf thing?"

Theo shrugged. "More or less."

"I won't question it," she said rolling her eyes. "Well, Theo. I have to go get ready for work. David will be up in a bit to make breakfast. He'll probably make you wake up Liam for him. Fair warning: it's not as easy as it sounds."

Theo chuckled and smiled at her. "Thanks for the warning, Mrs. Geyer."

She patted him on the chest as she started to exit the kitchen. "Call me that one more time and I'll kick you out, personally. To Liam's friends, I'm either Jenna or Mom. Got it?"

Theo stared dumbfounded for a moment before he shook himself out of it. "Yes, Ma'am." She then smiled pleased with herself and left to go get ready leaving Theo to entertain himself.

**...**

Apparently, Theo decided to make himself useful cause by the time David came down to make breakfast, Theo was already hard at work. "Theo!" he greeted him happily. "Wow. I wasn't expecting to find you in here this early. Are you making breakfast?"

Theo turned around from the stove. "Uh. Yeah. I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd at least do something useful."

David came and looked at what Theo was cooking up on the skillet and inhaled deeply. "It smells great. Where'd you learn to cook?"

Theo just shrugged. "Mostly trial and error. Breakfast is easy though."

David sat on the same barstool that Theo had earlier that morning with a sigh. He and Theo made a generous amount of small talk before David Brought up Liam. "How long have you known Liam exactly? I can never get straight answers out of the kid especially when it comes to werewolf stuff."

Theo sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I met him not long after he transferred to Beacon Hills. We weren't friends... at all. It wasn't anything personal really. I just wanted to steal Scott's power and become Alpha. But then they sent me to my own personal hell."

"Literally?"

"Very," said Theo shaking his head at the thought. "But Liam brought me back to help stop the Wild Hunt and... I guess I felt like I had to prove to him that I didn't deserve to go back there. But... he broke the sword that was going to send me back. Liam gave me a second chance and I'm going to make the most of it."

"By living in your truck?" he questioned making a wave of guilt hit Theo. Apparently, he was being pretty tranparent because David elabortated. "Theo, you can't do it on your own. No one can. Just keep that in mind, alright?"

Theo nodded but didn't bother looking up at the man. He turned to the sink and washed his hands. "You wanna take over? I'm gonna go wake up Liam." He didn't say another word to David before he left and went upstairs to Liam's room. He picked up a shoe from the floor and threw it at him. "Hey, Liam."

"Mmm...."

"Liam, wake up," said Theo throwing the other shoe at him. But Liam just pulled the covers over his head. Theo growled and grabbed Liam by his feet. "Come on! Get your lazy ass out of bed, Liam!-"

Liam sat up looking pissed. "Oh my God! It's Saturday! Don't you know you're supposed to sleep in on Saturday?!"

Theo let go of the other boy's feet. "I made breakfast."

Liam's tongue got caught for a moment. "You... made breakfast?"

"Yeah," said Theo.

Liam just stared at him blankly for a moment.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just... didn't expect you to be making breakfast." The two of them shared an awkward moment of silence that made Theo tense. Liam shrugged. "It smells good."

"Are you coming or not?" Theo asked getting fed up and Liam stared at him blankly, obviously thinking about something. "What?"

Liam gave Theo a once over. The boy was wearing the same thing he had been the night before but his hair was clean and his skin seems lighter and fresh like he'd showered. As he sniffed the air, the food cooking downstairs was obvious but there was also a hint of the soap Liam used in the shower. It was probably his inner wolf but something about the thought of Theo smelling like him made him feel like Theo belonged to him. Liam knew that wasn't the case though so he pushed it to the back of his mind and kicked his blankets off as he stood up. "You need to do your laundry."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll eat your breakfast." Theo started to leave the room but Liam protested and pushed him into the hallway wall. Theo grunted. "Dude, what the hell?" Theo looked at Liam and saw a sparkle in his eye, the same sparkle he'd seen when they'd backed over one of the ghost riders and when Liam had saved his life from one of them as the hospital. Theo's lips twitched a little into a smirk and his shoulders rose in excitement before he pushed Liam back and started to run towards the stairs.

Liam lost his balance and tripped a little. "Hey, Theo! Get back here!!!" He ran after him. "You don't want to see how angry I get when someone eats my breakfast!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something might be going on at Derek's place.

Monday afternoon, Liam came home from Lacross practice and saw his mother and step-dad talking to Theo on the couch. When he walked in, they all turned their attention to him. "Uh... is everything OK?" he asked concerned. For a moment he thought he felt some tension.

"Everything is fine, Liam," said Jenna. "We were just having a discussion with Theo."

David turned his head in Liam's direction with a smile that eased the boy's nerves. "Have a seat, Son." David motioned to an empty space next to Theo on the couch. Liam dropped his bags at the door and sat next to Theo giving the other young man a nod to greet him.

Liam sat and looked awkwardly between his parents before speaking up. "What kind of discussion?"

"Well, we made a deal with him," said Jenna. "He can stay with us as long as he wants as long as he promises to finish school."

Liam furrowed his browed in disbelief. "That's all?" He scrunched up his shoulders and rung his hands anxiously. He knew there had to be more that he was missing.

"Is that OK, Liam?" asked David. "Is there gonna be a problem. We wanted to talk to you about it alone but-"

"Yeah," said Liam running his hand through his hair. "That's fine. Just... what aren't you telling me? I can tell you're keeping something from me-"

"I'm supposed to meet with Miss Martin once a week," admitted Theo. "Talk about what's going on in my head. It's part of the deal."

Liam got it now. That was something his parents couldn't tell anyone. It was up to Theo to decide who knew and apparently he wanted Liam to know. Or at least he was OK with him knowing about it. "Oh..." said Liam. "Alright. Cool... I mean, not that you have things going on in your head that you need to talk about but that you're going to be around..." Liam bit his lip and clasped his hands together, nodding his head.

Theo smiled weakly at him. Liam could see his eyes were a little red and watery like he was possibly on the verge of tears. Then he heard his heart rate start to pick up like he was... nervous or even anxious. Liam realized he had just been staring at Theo and hadn't said anything to reassure him that it was alright with him that he was staying. "Yeah. Yeah. It'll be nice having someone around to watch my back." He gave Theo a friendly slap on the back. Although, Liam wasn't the best at being nice and encouraging so it was a little awkward for the both of them.

Liam didn't miss the way Theo caught a stray tear before it fell on his cheek. He supposed he understood since the boy had never really lived with an actual family before. Theo cleared his throat. "Thanks for everything," Theo said giving Liam's parents each a nod of appreciation. Theo stood and stretched a little, popping his back. "I'm gonna go... air up my tires real quick." And then he left.

Liam gave them some funny looks before Jenna explained to him. "He probably needs a minute to process, Liam. Don't worry about it." Liam nodded in understanding before she talked again. "We do want to talk to you about it alone though."

Liam paused and looked between them a few more times. "Yeah. What... what is it?"

"Well, we just really want to make sure you don't have any problems with it-"

"No. It's perfectly fine." Liam seemed sure about that at least.

"But you understand that... you're basically going to be brothers now," she said. "You're gonna have to be his friend, make sure he knows he doesn't owe us anything, watch his back."

Liam raised his eyebrows with an annoyed expression. "Yeah." Liam saw the look of doubt on their faces probably due to his lack of enthusiasm. "He's part of my pack. That's... what we do." He nodded, mostly to reassure himself. "We watch each other's backs."

**...**

Theo promised himself he wouldn't listen in on their conversation. But he really didn't want to be a bother to Liam so... he did anyway. And that's when he heard Liam say he was part of his pack. Theo didn't... understand. He remembered Scott explicitly not allowing him to be a part of his pack and, frankly, he did deserve that. But Liam was saying something different.

Had Theo missed something? Had Scott let him in his pack and he'd just completely missed it? He remembered Scott calling him for help, telling him to go save Liam, Mason, Mellisa, and Nolan at the hospital, to buy him time. But he wasn't sure he would've done it if it weren't for Liam's name being on that list. He felt like he owed him for saving him from his sister and even for saving him from the Wild Hunt. No one had ever done that before. He'd always had to fight for himself.

Theo was sure Scott would've at least talked to him if he'd let him in his pack, let him know. Maybe Liam was lying. Maybe he was trying to convince his parents that he could watch Theo's back. But why? He could just tell them no and have Theo kicked out, couldn't he?

Theo's thoughts were interrupted by the garage door opening. He turned and saw Liam walking down the steps. "You find the PSI gauge?" asked Liam hopping down and standing at his side.

Theo shook his head and got back to the real world. "No. I guess my tires are fine. Don't you think?"

Liam shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not much of a car person." Liam ran his hand through his hair again. "Listen, I need to meet with Mason and Corey. I want you to come with me."

Theo hummed absentmindedly and pulled out his keys. "Alright. Where to?"

"We're going to Derek's place," said Liam hopping into the passenger seat. "Apparently, Corey and Mason saw a group of hunters out by Derek's last night."

"And what are we gonna do about it?"

Liam shrugged. "Check it out. If we can, scare them off."

"Well, I can guarantee it's going to be more complicated than that," said Theo backing out of the garage and onto the street. "And what were they doing at Derek's place anyway? He's not even in town."

Liam groaned. "I don't think you want to know."

Theo looked at Liam with a questioning glance. "Oh. So they wandered off the beaten path to make out in Derek's creepy apartment building. That sounds unbelievably romantic, doesn't it?" Sarcasm clearly laced Theo's voice and a grin spread on his lips.

"That's what I said," said Liam. "But apparently, Mason and Corey think there's something fishy going on with Derek and they wanted to check out his place to see if they found anything."

"They snooped around Derek's place?" asked Theo. "I barely know the guy and I already know that's a bad idea. He's totally gonna know they were there. He gonna know _we_ were there. Why are we going there?"

Liam sighed and shook his head. "Cause I don't know what else to do."

"Well, this better not be like the time at the zoo," Theo quipped. "You need to have a foolproof plan. You're plan last time was great except something was triggering you and making you angry. What if that happens this time?"

"That's why I'm bringing you," said Liam. "One, you're a genius and can probably come up with a better plan than me, and two, you're there to knock me out if I lose it."

"Liam, I'm an _evil_ genius," said Theo. "I can come up with all of the things that the bad guys would do. I don't know how to come up with good guy plans, OK? I'm still learning how to be the good guy."

Liam clicked his tongue and sighed exasperatedly. "Wait... what did you just say?"

Theo turned and looked at Liam for a second. "I'm still learning to be the good guy-"

"No," he said. "Before that."

"I can come up with all of the things that the bad guys would do..." Theo said trailing off as he realized what Liam was pointing out.

Liam slapped his knee in a momentary thrill for coming up with an idea. "OK. So what would the bad guy do?"

Theo scoffed and shook his head, smiling at how clever Liam was. He bit his lip and looked at the other boy with admiration. "Uh..." Theo drew himself out of his head. "Well, he certainly wouldn't stick around Derek's place if there was no sign of him anywhere. I mean, the bad guys want to kill him but he's clearly gone, right?"

"Right," said Liam. "So where would they go."

"Well, where would what they're hunting go?" Theo asked rhetorically. "The hunters know some of our most frequent places. They're probably headed to one of those places."

"So that leaves us with four places," said Liam. "The School, the Hospital, the Animal Clinic, or the Police Station."

"Call Mason and tell him to check out the Hospital. And let Sherrif Stilinski and Deaton know to be lookout out," said Theo. "We'll check out the school."

"What if they're not at any of those places?" asked Liam.

Theo rung the steering wheel with his hands. "Then, I'm officially not a bad guy anymore."


	6. Chapter 6

They sat in Theo's car in the school parking lot. It was already dark out and they were in the shadow under a tree so no one could see that they were there. They'd been sitting there for hours. The hospital was clear, so was the Station, and Deaton had the animal clinic safely locked down. So far, they'd seen nothing at the school.

"Maybe you're not a bad guy after all," Liam offered. He looked at Theo who was staring down at his lap with a thinking face on. "What?"

"I just thought of something," Theo said.

"OK..."

"What if they were just after Derek?" Theo said.

"Why would they go after Derek?"

"There's a lot about Derek Hale that we don't know," Theo reasoned. "I'm sure a lot of people want him dead."

"Alright," said Liam. "What if they were just after Derek? What does that mean for us?"

"Well, if they were after Derek, then they might camp out at his place until he comes back," said Theo. "I could be totally wrong though. Cause-"

"I'm gonna call Stiles and tell him that there were people at Derek's place," said Liam pulling out his phone. "Derek doesn't even have a phone."

"And Stiles is gonna help us get a hold of him?" asked Theo. "Doesn't strike me as a likely duo."

"Yeah, well, neither are we," said Liam. "Derek might be a bit creepy and stoic but from what I've heard he really cares about Scott and Stiles. Like, little brothers. Of course, Scott is the responsible little brother that he doesn't have to babysit."

"Oh, so does that make me Derek and you Stiles?" Theo quipped.

"What?" Liam looked at him like he was crazy. The phone was up to his ear and was ringing already. "I'm not Stiles. Stiles is-"

"You're totally Stiles. Just instead of ADD, you have IED," Theo continued to reason, clearly poking fun at him. "I mean, I'm definitely not Stiles. But I can be pretty shady like Derek."

"I'm not Stiles!" Liam shouted. There was a click on the phone and his ears perked up. "Stiles, hey! How-how are you? You doing OK?"

_"Liam, why are you calling me?"_

"Uh, we need you to let Derek know that some people we think were hunters were at his house last night. He doesn't have a phone so we couldn't get a hold of him."

_"OK. Hey, Derek! Someone's creepin' around your place!"_

"Wait. He's with you? Why is Derek with you?" asked Liam.

_"Well, I was tryin' to save his ass from the FBI again but he got shot and is crying like a baby-"_

_"Stiles shut the hell up."_ Liam heard Derek take a biting tone with the other man in the background. _"Liam, who was at my place?"_

"Uh... Corey and Mason thought they were hunters but they haven't come after us so we thought that maybe they were after you," Liam said still looking Theo in the eye.

_"Stay away from them,"_ warned Derek. _"OK? I think I know who they are and they're even more dangerous than hunters. Don't go near my place. You have to make sure Mason and Corey weren't seen or else they're dead. You hear me?"_

"Wait. But who are they-"

_"Don't worry about it. Stiles and I are coming."_ Stiles argued with him in the background but Derek ignored him. _"Don't stick your nose into my business, alright? Just make sure Mason and Corey are safe. Understand, Liam?"_

Liam hesitated before Derek asked him again. "Yeah. I understand." The line went silent and Liam put his phone down. "So apparently we're not supposed to stick out noses in it."

"I heard," Theo said reminding him that both of them had enhanced hearing.

Liam had that look again. Like he was thinking really hard. "Maybe Mason and Corey are on to something? Maybe Derek's into something-"

"No," said Theo. "We're not going there. I'm drawing the line." He started the truck and put it in drive. Liam tried to protest. "Nope! We're going to let Derek and Stiles take care of it. Well... we're going to let Derek take care of it."

"But-"

"I'm not going to let you do something stupid, Liam," said Theo. "OK? Bad guy 101. Don't do more work than you need to. We're going to check on Mason and Corey and then we're going home.-"

"What would Scott do?!"

"Scott's not here, Liam!" Theo said indignantly. "You're here!"

Liam sighed and gripped the handle on the roof of the car tightly. He was getting angry. His heart rate was picking up and he was grinding his teeth. "I know Scott isn't here!" he burst out in anger.

Theo sighed and cursed himself for prodding him. He pulled the car over and put it in park at the entrance of the school parking lot. "Liam, get it together!"

Liam growled and his eyes turned yellow. "Don't tell me to get it together!"

Theo should've known better than to react violently to get him to calm down but part of him couldn't help it. It was a knee-jerk reaction, a defense skill. He shoved at his shoulder causing Liam to launch at his neck and pin him against the door of his truck, strangling him. Theo turned in an instant, eyes glowing yellow and his fangs seethed.

Liam slashed at him with one arm and ripped his shirt along with the skin underneath. Theo reacted violently and heaved himself up and threw Liam against his own door before growling in his face. Liam was trying to calm down while Theo held him down and gave him an intimidating look. They were both thrown out of their wolf state when there was a tap on Theo's window.

They both immediately shifted into humans, both panting from the outburst. "Sorry..." Liam said in between breaths.

Theo let go of Liam's arms. "Me too. I didn't mean to-"

"S'not your fault," said Liam. Theo could've sat up but for some reason, he was just caught up in the moment, the way he and Liam were so close and their legs tangled together. Something about it just... rubbed him the right way.

There was another tap on the window and a light shown in. "Alright. Alright!-" When Theo looked up to see who it was, he froze. He rolled down his window quickly. "Sherrif Stilinski, I was just about to leave-"

"I'd been getting reports about a boy sleeping in a blue Toyota Tundra around town," he interrupted. "Saw your truck and thought I'd check it out. Make sure you weren't making yourself comfortable in the school parking lot." Jonathan shined the light in the passenger seat and found Liam. "Liam?"

Liam sighed and gave him a shy wave. "Hi."

"I didn't realize you were checking out the school with Theo," he said. "I also didn't realize that Theo was living in his truck."

"He's not anymore," said Liam. The Sherrif looked at them questioningly. "He's living with me."

"You two?" he questioned shining his flashlight between the two of them. "Together?"

Liam was an idiot so he didn't catch on. "Yes. Together-"

"Not! Together," Theo corrected. "We're not together."

Liam seemed to think for a moment before he caught up. "Oh my God! No! Mason is the one who's gay, not me. And Theo has cooties anyways."

"Sherrif, has there been any sign of hunters down at the Station?" Theo asked after rolling his eyes and shoving at Liam again. He should probably stop doing that.

"Nothing," he answered. "I was about to send some deputies in the direction of Derek's place but Stiles called and told us to stay away. Also said to make sure you Liam did.-"

"We were on our way to make sure Corey and Mason hadn't gotten into any trouble," Theo explained. "Liam... had an episode."

"Yeah," said Liam. "That's why he was on top of me. No other reason."

Theo smirked at Liam. "Oh trust me, Baby Wolf. If there were any other reason, I'm pretty sure you'd be on top." Theo even went as far as to poke his nose which made the Sherrif get fed up and just leave. Theo drove them home while Liam called Corey and Mason to check up on them, the entire time, with Theo smiling from ear to ear about the way he'd made Liam squirm at his last comment to him.


	7. Chapter 7

Theo and Liam were headed to Mason's to check on the happy couple. Theo didn't know why. He and Liam were just talking on the phone and they sounded fine but for some reason, he felt compelled to do what Liam told him to. So he drove in silence for a good five minutes before Liam spoke up. "You really think I would be on top?"

Theo opened his mouth to say something but he couldn't quite find the words. Naturally, he turned to sarcasm. "That depends. You really want to talk about us having sex?"

Liam literally facepalmed. "No," said Liam. "I don't want to talk about us having sex..."

Theo's grin turned slightly evil at this point and he looked at Liam. "Oh. So you wanna  _do_ , not  _talk_. I see. I like your way of thinking."

"Do you want me to break your nose again?" Liam asked threateningly.

Theo shrugged with a smug look on his face. "That depends on if we're gonna have s-"

"Shut up."

Theo started chuckling at how squirmy Liam kept acting, sort of like he wanted to pounce on him again and strangle him. "Dude, relax. I'm just messing with you."

"Don't mess with me," hissed Liam. "Don't mess with someone you has anger issues, especially when you're one of the people that trigger him!" The last part was said superfast and through his teeth like he was trying not to say it but just couldn't help it.

"I trigger you?" asked Theo. He didn't know whether to be honored or hurt though.

"Well... I don't know," said Liam. "Sometimes you don't even have to say things and I want to pounce on you."

"It's my charming personality, isn't it?"

"It is your charming personality," said Liam in whole truth. Theo had been joking but Liam wasn't. "Can't you just be like a normal guy and suck? Like why do you have to be so... perfect?"

"Aw, Liam..." Theo teased. "Are you having boy troubles?"

"Dude, I just called you perfect and all I get is another sarcastic remark?"

"I'm sorry," said Theo sincerely looking at Liam as he pulled into Mason's driveway. "We all have our weaknesses." He pulled the key out of the ignition and smiled at Liam. "Mine just happens to be you."

Liam blinked. "Yeah, man. That's nice. Can you cut the crap already?"

"I am," said Theo before taking a deep breath and holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm cutting the crap."

**...**

Theo followed Liam into Mason's room where they found Mason and Corey making out on the bed. "Aw, come on guys. I told you I was coming over," Liam whined. and covered his eyes. But Theo was completely intrigued with the display and even had to suppress a grin rather obviously. Liam was probably still thinking about them having sex if he reacted like that.

Theo watched unashamed as the other boys gathered themselves together and stood up. "Sorry," said Mason brushing the wrinkles out of his shirt. "We got bored."

"Clearly," Theo mumbled still smirking at them. Mason and Corey just looked at him with that, "What the hell are you doing here?" look. He rolled his eyes at their impecable hospitality and made himself comfortable in Mason's desk chair.

"So uh..." said Mason. "You've seen us. We're fine. And now you can go. Bye.-"

"Mason, tell us more about the people you saw," said Liam. "Did they see you? Either of you?"

"No," said Mason.

"Are you sure?" asked Theo on Liam's behalf because he could see the anger rising in him again. "Because if they saw you, 'you're already dead' according to Derek."

Mason swallowed and Corey spoke up. "They couldn't have seen us. We were invisible the whole time."

"Good," said Theo eyeing Liam who was pacing back and forth. The kid was gonna hurt himself if he didn't calm down. Theo stood up and grabbed Liam by the shoulders. "Liam, calm down. Have a seat, OK?" He looked him in the eye and watched him hesitate while he chewed his lip. "OK?"

Liam took a deep breath. "Yeah." Then he sat in the chair Theo had given up for him.

Theo gave Liam's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "They didn't see them. Nothing to get worked up about."

Liam leaned forward and bowed his head between his clasped hands, bobbing his head up and down while he took deep breathes. "I know." He sat up rubbing his temple and glanced at Theo. "Thanks." He turned to the other boys and asked them, "Is there anything else you remember about them?"

"One of them spoke Spanish," said Corey.

"Portuguese," corrected Mason.

"Right."

"That's all?" asked Liam.

"That's the only thing that stood out from previous hunters we've encountered," said Mason. "I really wish there was anything else we could say."

Theo saw Liam pondering, thinking too hard. He wasn't going to get any more done tonight so he should his shoulder again. "Come on, Liam. Let's get you home. That's enough for tonight." Theo didn't find much of a response from the other boy so he tried again. "Liam."

Liam abruptly stood up and rubbed his clammy hand on his jeans. "Yeah. Let's go." Without another word, he exited Mason's room leaving Theo behind.

Theo stood there rocking on his heels. He was sure Liam would've said goodbye to his best friend. "So uh..." Mason stared at him expectantly but Corey was looking at him... almost knowingly. There was a small smile pulling at his lips and he kept raking his eyes over Theo and looking out the bedroom door that Liam had left through. Since neither of them spoke up he took a step backward. "Goodnight." Then he left through the door to drive Liam home in complete silence, for good this time.

Mason looked at Corey and saw that 'look' he had on his face. "What?"

Corey shrugged nonchalantly like it was nothing but Mason questioned him again. "What you didn't notice that?"

"Oh yeah," said Mason. "Liam was totally right. Now that I think about it, Theo has totally changed."

But that's not what Corey was talking about.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam notices Theo helping around the house a lot.

Theo had been living at Liam's house for about two weeks. Whenever Liam wasn't at school or Lacross practice or checking in on Mrs. McCall and the Sherrif, he would usually just try and find something for Theo to do to keep himself busy. Theo was basically his personal chauffeur, driving him to and from school and errands his parents sent them on.

For a while Liam wasn't sure what Theo did while he was at school but once he came home after school and couldn't find Theo in his room or anywhere else in the house. He was about to text him and see where he'd gone, obviously not far if his truck was in the driveway, but then he heard a hammering noise. He followed the noise out onto the back patio and found Theo surrounded by scraps of wood and saw dust. "What are you doing?" asked Liam.

But Theo seemed oblivious to the fact that he was there since he had noise canceling ear muffs on, not to mention a pair of construction glasses. He sawed another piece of wood in half after measuring it precisely. The wind picked up and a piece of paper flew in Liam's direction finally getting the other boy to pull off his ear muffs. "Liam, I didn't see you there," he said smiling as if it weren't an odd sight finding Theo with a punch of power tools and wood in his backyard. "How was school?"

Liam licked his lips, brows furrowing. "It was fine..." Theo contentedly nodded his head and went back to measuring and marking his pieces of wood. "Whatcha' doin', Theo?" Liam asked rather obviously.

"Oh. Nothin'," said Theo. "Your dad was talking about how he wanted to put a pergola out back."

"So, naturally you just started doing it yourself," Liam continued for Theo.

"Well, I told him that I took three years of wood shop in high school and I offered to build it for him," said Theo. "The people you hire always do it wrong anyways. Figure I can take my time and do it the right way."

"Uh huh..." Liam hummed doubtfully. He didn't doubt Theo's skills with power tools or hammers or measuring but... he wasn't sure how he felt about Theo taking on that kind of role in his family. Theo the handyman. Liam shook his head at the thought. Nope. That just doesn't sound right. "You need any help?" he asked walking over with an outstretched hand. He at least had to help him, didn't he?

"Ah ah ah. No!" Theo smacked Liam's hand as if he were reaching into the cookie jar. "I know how you are, Liam. You're sloppy and clumsy. Woodwork is very precise and, simply put, you don't have what it takes."

Liam drew his hand back with a hurt expression. "I have what it takes."

Theo humored him for a moment. "OK. OK. You wanna help. Here. Go back my truck up through that gate." He tossed Liam his keys and the boy fumbled for a good fives seconds trying to catch the keys and ultimately failing. Theo looked at him with a raised eyebrow before Liam sighed.

"Alright..." he said lacking confidence. He picked up Theo's keys and opened the gate all the way, Theo watching the entire time as Liam struggled to unlatch the gate, and then couldn't get the gate to stay open. Liam had a tiny IED outburst and shoved the gate into the side of the fence, scraping it up a little. He huffed spun around and found Theo watching him with his arms crossed. "Stop looking at me!" Liam hissed.

"I'm not watching you," he lied. Liam grunted and walked off. A few minutes later Theo heard the sound of his truck starting and backing out of the driveway. The tires screeched to a halt before turning around and coming back towards the house. The tires screeched a good teen times before the truck came onto the grass and was very, very slowly backing through the narrow gate into the backyard. It took Liam another five minutes to back the truck all the way in and at least seven tries. Finally, he went to open the driver's door but there wasn't any room between it and the fence. He growled and clumsily climbed out the passenger door before storming into the house. "Hey! Where're my keys?!" Theo questioned with an amused smirk.

"In your damn truck!" Liam shouted before slamming the back door. Theo chuckled and got back to work putting his earmuffs back on. At least Liam tried. He could give him that.

**...**

Once a week, Liam's parents were both home and got to eat dinner with the boys like a normal family. This night, in particular, Theo had taken to making the dinner with a little bit of Liam's help. He basically just told Theo was to make and then spent the rest of the time looking up recipes on his phone while Theo did all the hard work.

"Wow, Theo," said Jenna. "I wish you would teach Liam how to cook."

Theo smiled and patted Liam on the shoulder. "What are you talking about? Liam helped."

Liam froze in the middle of chewing. "I did?" Theo gave him a look and he swallowed. "Yeah. If it weren't for me we wouldn't be eating teriyaki chicken and green beans with rice." He wasn't really lying but it definitely wasn't the whole story. Theo smiled and took another bite of his food contented with Liam's fake story. He could've sold him out but he didn't want to be taking all the credit, even if it was all his in the first place.

"Theo, I see you're making nice progress outback on the pergola," said David, wholeheartedly impressed. "I didn't think it would be on its way to being finished so quickly. I'm impressed."

Theo shrugged. "It's the only thing I have to keep me busy other than being Liam's chauffeur." Theo loved getting praise like this but... he hated it too because he felt like he was stealing it from Liam. He looked at Liam who was absentmindedly chewing on his food. "Speaking of, I heard someone got an A on their history exam."

Jenna's face lit up as Liam dropped the food that was on his fork in surprise. "Liam, I'm so proud of you."

Liam looked at everyone at the table confused. "... I always get an A on my history exams."

"And you always make us proud every time you do it," David said in assurance. "So how's Lacross going?"

Liam shrugged and set down his fork like he was getting a little uncomfortable. "I don't know. Nolan is thinking about stepping down as Co-Captain. His family is having financial trouble and he might need to get a job. I know I was Captain of the team on my own before but... I just don't feel like I can do it right now. I'm struggling with Biology, Math, and Economics really bad. The season hasn't even started yet and I'm already way behind."

"Are you saying you want to quit Lacrosse?" asked Theo, smile disappearing.

Jenna interrupted before Liam could say anything. "Don't worry about it, Liam. Your dad and I will be there to support you no matter what you decide. Just don't stress over it too much, OK?"

**...**

Later that night, Liam was in his room trying to focus on his homework when Theo walked in. He let out an aggravated sigh. "Theo, I'm trying to study. Can it wait."

"No," said Theo wandering in his room and sitting next to Liam on his bed. "Because I want to help you."

"With what?" asked Liam.

"Whatever you're studying," Theo answered taking the book out of his hand. "Who do you have for English?"

"Crosby. I'm supposed to type out an essay about this book that I haven't even read," said Liam handing the book to Theo. "I have a Biology exam on Friday that I need to study for."

"OK," said Theo. "How about I write your essay on..." He looked at the cover. "...Lord of the Flies. Yuck. I hate this book. Trust me. It's better if you don't read it."

"Isn't that plagiarism?"

Theo shrugged. "Technically, yes. But it's not like you're murdering anyone. Where's the assignment?" Liam just looked at him dumbfounded. "What?"

"I can't let you write my essay for me," said Liam. "That's cheating."

"So is being a werewolf and playing Lacrosse," Theo argued. He flipped through Liam's textbook and found the assignment before wandering over to Liam's computer and typing it out being sure to make it sound like it came from Liam's weird little head and have a few clumsy mistakes.

Liam turned to his biology textbook and stared at it. He basically sucked at studying. He never knew where to begin. Eventually, he had a sheet paper covered in chicken scratch that he couldn't possibly read. Twenty minutes later, Theo spit out the two-page essay that was required of Liam to turn in. "Holy..." Liam looked at it surprised. "How did you do that?"

Theo shrugged. "I guess I kinda miss school. Make sure you read that like ten times so you know what 'you' wrote your essay about."

"What if she knows it's not mine?" asked Liam.

"Tell her you've found a new tutor," Theo said but it sounded like more of a question. "It's kinda true." Theo then took Liam's paper of chicken scratch out of his hands. "What the hell is this?"

"Uh... notes?"

Theo sighed and looked at Liam incredulously. He skimmed over Liam's notes in silence making Liam tense up. He didn't know what he did wrong this time. "OK. First off, you need to slow down when taking notes..." Theo went on about how to take proper notes in and out of class and how to organize them before he actually started helping Liam take notes to help him study for his biology exam. Once Liam got the hang of it, Theo stayed close for moral support and just laid down flat on the other side of the bed. Shortly after Theo passed out, Liam closed his book and fell asleep too.

Theo was really starting to go somewhere. Liam just hoped it wouldn't be anywhere far away.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo gets ready to go back to school and Liam is oblivious to just about everything.

Theo drove Liam to school one day and, unlike he usually did, walked in with him. He had no books or schedule but he was meeting with Miss Martin for just that. He sat in her office rocking back and forth comfortably in the office chair. "So it looks like you have most of your credits taken care of. You'll just need to do a quarter of English, Math, and two electives. Everything else looks good."

Theo kept rocking in the chair with his hands clasped together and his elbows on the arm rest. He nodded. "Sounds good."

"I'll see what openings we have for the second semester. Everyone else has already registered so we might have to put you in as overflow." She looked over the list. "One English class has an available seat. Crosby at 9:00. We'll stick you in that slot. What math did you say you were in before you... took a leave?"

"Pre-Calculus," he answered.

"Well, there aren't very many openings for math at the moment," she said. "At least not at that level. The highest level of Math with an open spot right now is an Engineering class that is linked to Valley Hill Community College. So you'd be getting college credits as well. It's basically a class on how to do applied geometry and trigonometry. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?"

"Yeah. It sounds fine."

"OK," she said exhaling relieved. "Now, on to electives. Do you have any interests-"

"History," Theo blurted out. "I like Linden."

"OK. 8:00 or 10:00?"

"10:00," he answered straight away. "I was in his class last year and a remember most of it so it shouldn't be much of a problem that I missed first semester, right?"

"Correct. Any ideas for your final elective? There's an Athletic Trainor class if you're interested. Only one other person has signed up."

"Who?"

She looked at the list. "Mason Hewitt."

"Sign me up," said Theo.

"Alright," she said. "I think we're done here unless you had anything else you wanted to talk about."

"Actually, I'm looking for a job. Not very many places in town are highering and I'm not really qualified to do much since I don't have my diploma yet. I was hoping you could possibly point me in the right direction...?"

She looked at him and smiled. "I'll put out some feelers and keep you posted. Oh! One more thing. I almost forgot. Jenna Geyer called and said that there might be things that you want to talk with the school counselor about. Did you want to make an appointment?"

Theo slouched. "She called?"

"You may be an adult, Theo. But you still need lookin' after."

"Oh..."

"So what do you want to talk about?"

Theo sighed. "Just... my past. Jenna told me to make a weekly appointment with you..."

"Lydia didn't say much about where you went or what happened but..." she started. "... it must've taken a toll on you. I know with the whole supernatural thing, it can be a bit hard when it comes to talking to someone about it but I'm always here to listen. Hopefully, I can help."

He smiled at her weakly. "Thanks..."

Theo set up a day to meet with her in her office weekly and she printed his schedule for the semester. It looked like the Math class was only 10 weeks long but that was probably because it was connected to the Community College. And he was a bit surprised that Mason had signed up to be an Athletic Trainor but it probably had something to do with Corey being an Athlete. He knew that if he were an Athletic trainer then he'd get to keep an eye on Liam while he practiced and at games, be there in case he lost his temper.

He lied to himself and promised he hadn't based his schedule around Liam but he really had. He liked to tease Liam and fight with him but he wanted to help him right now if he was having a hard time in school. The more he was around him, the easier it was to do that. He would also be around if someone else decided to pick on him. Sure he picked on Liam but that didn't mean anyone else could.

Theo left the school and drove back home to Liam's house until it was time to pick Liam up.

**...**

Liam was sitting at the lunch table with Mason, Corey, and Nolan talking. "So, Liam," said Corey suggestively. "What's with you and Theo?"

Liam, as clueless as he was, didn't really know what he was talking about. "Oh. Theo's cool. He's coming back to school second semester."

Mason rolled his eyes at Liam's obliviousness. "I heard he was building a pergola in your guys' backyard."

"Oh. Yeah," said Liam with a mouthful of a meatball sandwich. "He's almost finished. You should come over and check it out. It's really nice."

"I had no idea Theo could do wood work," Corey said, again in a suggestive tone that Liam didn't pick up on. "Is he any good?"

Liam looked at him like he was crazy. "Did you not hear me? I said it was nice."

Nolan let out a sharp laughter at how Liam and Corey were not anywhere near the same level. He got a confused glare from Liam. "Sorry."

Corey gave up and let Mason take over on the conversation. "Good job on your essay, by the way. Crosby really liked it."

That's when Liam froze looking like a deer in the headlights. "Yeah... I worked really hard on it."

"It wasn't your essay was it?" Mason concluded.

"Nope," Liam admitted unashamedly. "Theo did it."

"Well, props to Theo for putting in the extra work to do your homework, make dinner for your family, and build a pergola in your backyard because you dad mentioned he wanted one," Mason listed. "What else does he do?"

Liam shrugged. "Cleans. Drives places. ...He does my laundry. But only because he wears my clothes a lot."

"He wears your clothes?!" Corey burst out again. "I mean, can it be any more obvious?!"

Liam jumped back startled at Corey's outburst. "Geez! No need to yell. I'm right here."

Nolan put his hands up in front of Corey's face to get him to calm down. "Hey, Corey. Just let it happen on its own. OK? This is Liam we're talking about. He'd have a fit."

Liam looked at each of the boys at his table suspiciously. "What...?"

"Nothing," said Mason probably just as clueless as Liam. "It's just that it sounds like you're letting Theo carry all the weight around the house. Maybe you should help him out."

"I do no-..." Liam stopped himself and thought for a moment. "OK. Maybe he does all the work but no one ever tells him to. He just does it." Corey started shaking his head in disbelief as Liam stood up. "I gotta go talk to Coach. See you later."

Once he was gone Corey burst out again. "Oh my God. You guys see it, don't you? Right?! Come on. It's so obvious, isn't it?"

Nolan kept pushing Corey's hands down to get him to calm down. "Yes, Corey. We all see it. Now calm down."

Corey sighed, shaking his head in Mason's direction. "Wait... I don't think we're talking about the same things," said Mason. "Cause I just said what I thought we were talking about. What are you guys talking about?"

Corey let out a noise of disappointment before getting up and walking away completely. Nolan sighed and shook his head at Corey's dramatics. "Theo likes Liam."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo bonds with Liam's mom a little. Theo and Liam stalk Derek and Stiles until they regret it.

"So Miss Martin found a job for me," Theo told Jenna as he helped her clean the kitchen one night.

"Really? That's great Theo. What is it?"

"The school janitor is gonna retire soon and wants to train someone up," he replied.

"Really?" she asked looking at him in disbelief. "You want to work at the school?"

He shrugged. "It actually makes it easier cause when I'm not in class, I can just work. I only have the two morning classes and one class in the afternoon. Then, after school, I have the Athletic Trainer course which is mostly just helping out the Lacrosse team and wrapping their injuries."

"That's great, Theo," she applauded him. "How have the meetings with Miss Martin been going?"

Theo's shoulders dropped a little. He was disappointed him himself. "I... I haven't been going." He said really quiet. In the back of his mind, he could remember that that was part of the deal. He had to talk. Jenna looked at him questioningly and he basically coward as he ineffectively washed the dishes. "...I tried."

Jenna put an arm around his shoulder. "Well, sweetie. I don't blame you. Talking can be hard." Her touch made Theo feel warm and like he was important. Jenna always made him feel that way. She was so nice and... motherly. He supposed that's why he liked her so much. Because he hadn't had a mother he could remember in his life. And she welcomed him with open arms. "Do you maybe want to talk with someone else? You could always talk to David and I. You could always talk to Liam."

Theo was now staring out the kitchen window as he absentmindedly scrubbed a plate. Jenna took it out of his hands. "I'll take care of it, sweetheart. You go have some rest."

She started to wash the plate as Theo stood back with tears welling in his eyes. "Thanks, mom..." He said, voice cracking.

She set down the plate and dried off her hands. She turned around and saw the tears roll down his cheeks. She smiled at him and opened her arms for a hug which Theo had no problem taking. He buried his face in her greying brunette hair and cried. He'd never had a mom before.

**...**

"Weird," said Liam looking over Theo's schedule one night when Nolan was hanging out at their place. "We have two classes together."

"What are the chances of that?" Nolan questioned with an underline tone of sarcasm.

"I just happened to want to take that history class," said Theo. "And your English class was the only one that's open."

"Oh. Well, that's cool," said Liam. "It just means you can help me out with all my English papers."

"Nice essay, by the way, Theo," said Nolan. "Mason said it was the teacher's favorite."

"Wait," said Theo. "Really? I tried to make it bad too just for Liam's sake but apparently, I failed."

"Hey," said Nolan. "Did you ever figure out what happened to those hunters at Derek's place a while back?"

Theo shook his head. "Stiles just said that they were taken care of and that we need to stay away from Derek's apartment from now on."

"Kryptic."

"That's Derek and Stiles for you," Theo mumbled. "I bet they're up to something."

"You know," said Liam. "I saw Stiles's jeep the other day. I think they're still in town."

Theo smirked. "We should go stalk them. Maybe they'll let us in on whatever secret mission it is they're hiding from us."

"OK," said Liam standing up and walking out of the room without any further questioning.

Nolan just looked up at Theo with pleading eyes. "Can I just go home?"

**...**

Theo was parked across the street from Derek's apartment hidden behind a tree. He had a pair of binoculars trained on the windows of the man's apartment. "Does Derek strike you as a curtain kind of guy?" asked Theo.

"Why?" asked Liam.

"Well, cause he has very nice curtains," Theo explained. "I thought he was more of a nail-a-board-over-the-window kind of guy. Oh. Look! There's Stiles." He passed the binoculars to Liam. "See? It's his silhouette."

Theo watched as Liam looked in the binoculars, eyes squinting and lips tight like he was confused. "I don't see Stiles. I don't know what I see. It looks like a big wiggly lump."

Theo snatched them back. "Gimme that." He looked again through the binoculars and saw, like Liam had said, a big wiggly lump. "What is that? Is Stiles turning into some weird supernatural being?"

Theo watched as the lump turned into two lumps, a small one that looked like Stiles and a bigger one that looked like Derek. "Wait. That was just Derek and Stiles..." He trailed off when he saw the silhouette of Derek pulled of Silhouette Stiles's shirt off and suddenly he realized they were making out. "Shit."

"What? What it is?" asked Liam slapping Theo unnecessarily violently on the knee. "Are they OK?"

Theo threw the binoculars in the back of the truck and put it in drive. "Yeah. They're fine. Better than fine probably but I'm not. Some things you can't unsee."

"What can't you unsee?!"

"Derek and Stiles," said Theo.

"What about Derek and Stiles?"

"Just..." Theo shook his head as he drove. "Just... Derek... a-and Stiles?!!!!"

"Theo!" Liam shouted impatiently.

Theo stepped on the gas and got out of there fast. After a few minutes, he looked at Liam with an unidentifiable gaze. "Derek and Stiles."

Liam's mouth opened as if he were disbelieving but then he shook his head. "What about Derek and Stiles?" Poor Liam was so confused.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam is still oblivious and Theo comes to startling a realization.

"Derek and Stiles?!" shouted Mason in the middle of Biology. He was sitting next to Liam and now the entire class was looking at him. The teach just glared at them for a moment before she continued speaking. "Derek and Stiles?" asked Mason quieter now.

"Apparently," whispered Liam.

"Wow. Kinda unlikely how many people in Scott's circle of friends are gay, huh?" Mason points out.

Liam shrugs. "Not all of them. Just you and Corey and now I guess Derek and Stiles."

"Don't forget about Jackson and Ethan," Mason pointed out again.

"I don't know if Jackson and Ethan count as friends..." Liam pondered. "I mean, when one of your friends are gay, you're just more likely to have more gay friends because of your gay friends' other gay friends. I know this because you're my best friend and you're gay."

"..." Mason tried to understand what Liam had just said but it was a little hard to follow. "Theo's gay."

Liam winced and made a face before shaking his head. "What? Theo's not gay."

Mason chuckled a little before returning his attention to his school work. "OK. Maybe he isn't." But Mason wasn't entirely convinced, not after all the things that him, Corey, and Nolan were finding out about Theo. Mason still wasn't a fan of Theo but he did believe in second chances and that's exactly what Liam was giving Theo, a second chance. Even if Theo wasn't completely good, there were other reasons to keep him around. "But he's still so hot."

**...**

 

"Liam, can we talk?" asked Theo walking in Liam's room later that night.

"About?" Liam looked up from his homework.

Theo plopped down on Liam's bed with an exasperated sigh. "Derek and Stiles."

"Oh..." said Liam pushing his homework to the side for the moment. "Is this because they're gay? Are you... coming out to me right now?"

Theo jerked his head back and looked at Liam. "What? God, no, Liam. I was saying we should do something about it."

"...why? I mean, do we really want to get involved?"

"We are involved," said Theo. "Do you think Scott knows?"

"No. But we could help him find out on his own," said Liam.

Theo raised an eyebrow and looked at Liam the same way he had when they were at the zoo. He knew he had an idea and he wanted to listen. "OK."

"We just need to trick him into thinking that for some reason he needs to go to Derek's place-"

"I could call him saying that you're in trouble and need help."

"Or you could pretend to be the bad guy again and say that you're going to kill me and send him pictures and everything," Liam suggested.

"We'll put cell jammers around Derek's place so they won't be able to get a hold of them."

Liam smiled at Theo tried to pull the other boy out of bed. "You know, Theo? We actually make a pretty good team."

"Shut up," Theo stied to hide his smile by looking away while he blushed.

"I'm serious," said Liam giving him a slap on the shoulder. "Back in the hospital with the Ghost Riders and the Hunters. At the zoo. We were a good team."

Theo sighed and looked up at him, still smiling shyly. "Well, I am pretty amazing," he quipped trying to ease himself of this embarrassment. He wasn't sure why he felt so embarrassed and vulnerable right then. He thought it had something to do with the fact that no one had ever really just liked Theo for Theo. It was new to him.

After Theo's attempt to divert the conversation, Liam just remained there, staring at the other boy with an unreadable look on his face. "... You are pretty amazing..." Liam said under his breath.

Theo's heart skipped a beat and it seemed as if time froze. Something inside of him churned and swirled in all directions it was so overwhelming. He couldn't think. The only thing he could do was stare at Liam, his lips. Somewhere between Liam bringing him back and that moment, his sole had been awakened. Theo didn't know what it was but he wanted more of it, so much more. Whatever it was made something inside him burn like a fire but... at the same time it brought him so much peace and relief from the heartache of what he didn't have.

The distance between him and Liam seemed like it kept getting smaller and he wasn't sure which one of them was doing it. Maybe neither of them. His vision was just started to see what's been in front of him this entire time. Liam... it's always been Liam. Liam brought him back... Liam broke the sword... Liam convinced the Sherrif he could help them and then Liam killed one of the Ghost Riders and saved his life even after he said he was going to use him as bait.

That must've been why he impulsively saved Liam's life multiple times afterward. Cause Liam made him feel things he didn't know he could feel. Liam was why he listened to Scott when he needed someone to buy him time and... save Liam. Liam was why he stepped foot into the place of his nightmares, the place where his sister repeatedly ripped out his heart and taunted him relentlessly.

Theo was in love with Liam.

"So do you know where to get cell jammers?" asked Liam pulling Theo out of his trance.

Theo reflexively put on his charming mask and smiled. "That's a dumb question." His sudden realization was going to change things. He was going to have to rethink some things. Liam was family now, wasn't he? He lived with his parents as if they were his own. If anyone found out he loved Liam, it would all get ripped away from him.

He couldn't let his second chance slip away from him that easily.


	12. Chapter 12

Liam sat in the chair that was chained to a brick post. He started wrapping chains around his legs while Theo went over what he was going to tell Scott. He'd already planted the cell jammer in the perimeter of Derek's place. He was trying really hard not to think about how he felt about Liam. It was nearly impossible though.

"Chain me up?" Liam said pulling Theo out of his head.

"Huh?" Theo looked at him clueless for a moment.

Liam shook the chains at Theo. "I can't chain myself up."

"...Right..." said Theo taking the chains and wrapping them back around his chest. There was silence as he did so. Liam just let Theo chain him up. That meant he trusted him, right? Theo tightened the chain and made sure Liam's hands were completely secure. "Try and get out."

Liam wiggled around a bunch and his chair started to tip. "Uh oh..."

Theo caught him and stabilized him back on all four legs of the chair. "Careful." Theo then grabbed the bucket of water in the corner and splashed it all over Liam making the boy cry out in girly little screeches. "Liam. Liam, knock it off. You're fine."

Liam caught his breath. "That's cold!" Theo rolled his eyes and threw the bucket off to the side. "Hit me."

"What?" Theo asked. He knew what he said he just... with his most recent realization he wasn't sure if he could do it.

"Hit me," said Liam. "I need to look hurt in order for Scott to come all the way here."

Theo hesitated. But in the end, he figured that, if anything, it would help him not see Liam the way he did. So he swung at him breaking his nose right off the bat. He was surprised when it actually felt good. He placed duck tape over Liam's mouth and continued to hit him. Each time he hit him he felt worse though. He had to focus on the plan.

He saw Liam's eyes start to glow and he backed away. He hated this. "Are we really doing all this just so we can out Derek and Stiles to Scott?"

Liam slowly nodded and kept looking between Theo and the phone he had in his hand. Theo held up the phone and took pictures of Liam. He knew that he'd run to the rescue if he saw these photos of Liam. He wanted to rescue him now but this is what he wanted.

He sent a picture to Scott with a smirking emoji.

"I sent it," said Theo. He turned away to Liam wouldn't see his eyes watering. He didn't like this. "We should hear from him soo-" Theo's phone began to ring and he held it back up so he could read it. "That was fast." He pressed the answer button and held it up to his ear, still facing away from Liam. "Scott."

_"What the hell did you do to Liam, Theo?"_

"I'm stealing your Beta, Scott," Theo said, voice cold and emotionless. "In fact, I've already stolen him. But I'm willing to work out a deal with you. I'll give you Liam... if you give me your Alpha status." Scott started to speak but Theo interrupted him. "I'll send you my location. Be here or he's gonna suffer before he dies."

Theo hung up and turned around to Liam. "Did that seem heartless enough?"

Liam shrugged and bobbed his head, nodding.

Theo smirked. "Great. Now time for more pictures." He tipped Liam's chair over. "Are you good at fake crying?" A few seconds later, Liam started to... to cry. "Oh my God, Liam. Are you OK?" Theo was honestly being an overprotective idiot because he'd literally just told Liam to cry and here he was crying.

Theo realized his stupid mistake and back away. "Oh... you're good," he said in a flirty tone. "You totally had me fooled." Theo snapped a few photos before he ripped the duct tape of Liam's face.

"Aaah! Ow!"

"Sorry," Theo apologized. "You OK?"

"I'll be fine," said Liam. "Did it work?"

"I hope so," said Theo.

"Scott's gonna kill us for this," said Liam as Theo set his chair back on its feet. "Are you sure he's gonna show up at Derek's?"

"Maybe he's not gonna believe us," said Theo. "I mean, I have been spending the last few months trying to prove to you guys that I don't want to be Alpha and I just want to survive."

"Can you undo my chains now?" Liam asked.

"Sorry," said Theo getting up on his feet and to work.

**...**

Stiles was chillin' with Derek at his place when they heard the doors from downstairs burst open. "THEOOO!" they heard Scott shouting. "You're staying in the ground this time! I swear to God!!!"

Stiles looked at Derek. "Wha-Theo? Theo's not here?"

Derek tensed up. "Scott's here..."

"Yeah," said Stiles after scoffing. "Obviously, but why is he looking for Theo?"

"Scott thinks you're at the FBI training academy and that I'm in Mexico," said Derek.

"Oh, Shi-" Derek and Stiles stood up when Scott barreled into the room with a very angry look on his face, fangs and everything. "Scott!" Stiles nervously rubbed his clamy hands on his jeans and kept looking around frantically, awkwardly.

"Where's Theo?! I'm gonna kill him!!" shouted Scott.

"Theo's not here," said Stiles. "Why would Theo be here?"

"Cause he said he would be here," said Scott, anger slowly disappearing.

"Scott," lulled Derek. "Calm down. Why are you looking for Theo?"

Scott let his wolf subside and returned to his human form. He took a deep breath and shook his head in confusion. "Wait... what are you guys doing here?"

"What? Who? Oh us." Stiles chuckled and slapped Derek's back. "We were having lunch."

Scott looked at Derek skeptically. "You're supposed to be in Mexico."

Derek looked up at the ceiling before looking him in the eye again. "I might have exaggerated on how far south I was going."

"Yeah. You know Derek. He sucks at Geology," said Stiles still nervously scrambling over his words.

"Geography," corrected Derek. "I suck at geography."

Scott wasn't buying it. "Guys..."

Stiles slumped his shoulders and turned away from Scott trying to find the right way to break it to him. Derek faced Stiles's direction, presumably for moral support. "Scott, we haven't been completely honest with you," admitted stiles.

"What is it, Stiles? Tell me."

"Derek and I..." Stiles said nervously turning around and bluntly stating the truth. "We've been working together."

"On what?"

"We're searching for Monroe," said Derek.

"I thought I made it clear that no one was to-" started Scott.

"Well, you're wrong," said Derek bluntly. "Stiles and I aren't interested in waiting around for Monroe to show up. We need to take initiative."

"That's a bunch of bullshit," said a voice from behind them. They all turned to see Theo and Liam in the doorway. Liam walked up to Derek and pointed in his face. "You tell Scott the truth! He deserves to know!"

"Liam, you're OK?" asked Scott all concerned about his Beta.

Liam shrugged him off. "I'm fine! If Theo was gonna kidnap someone in your pack it wouldn't be me. We all know that."

"It's true," admitted Theo in that flirty voice that made everyone's head spin. "I have Liam wrapped around my finger. He'd go with me willingly."

"Shut up!" shouted Scott. "Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles explain what happened.

Now Theo, Liam, and Scott were all sitting on Derek's couch while he and Stiles paced in front of them. "OK. So you ran into another pack of werewolves that Monroe was hunting. What happened?" Liam begged to know the rest of the story.

"Well," said Derek. "It turns out this pack wasn't very friendly. They tried to kill me because I wasn't one of them."

"So?" said Scott. "People try to kill you all the time."

"I know," said Derek. "I was handling them just fine until Stiles showed up-"

"I came to warn you that monroe was coming-"

"I told you to stay in the car!" said Derek. "Can't you ever just stay in the car? Is it really that hard for you to sit still for just one minute?"

"Yes! I have ADHD!"

"Not the point!" Derek hissed. "Anyways... while I was trying to convince the rest of the pack to run away from the hunters rather than attack them, Stiles was being attacked by the Alpha. The pack was good cover for Stiles and I against the hunters but... look, Scott. The Alpha was going to kill Stiles. OK? It was the only thing I could do."

"What... what did you do?" asked Scott.

Theo, at this point, was a step ahead of the game and knew what was going on. His face showed it too in an almost horrifying way. "Wait a second... you didn't..." Suddenly it made sense to Theo, why they'd been so secretive, why they'd looked like their silhouettes were kissing in the curtain.

Derek shifted his eyes to reveal a red glow and Scott reared his head back in shock. Derek was an Alpha now. "What?! You're an Alpha?! Stiles why didn't you tell me Derek was an Alpha now?!"

Stiles stuttered and chuckled. "Wait. Derek's an Alpha? I had no idea!"

"He didn't tell you because Stiles is his Beta," blurted Theo looking at Stiles in the eye. "Isn't that right?"

Scott's face did that horrible thing where he looked constipated but he was actually just really confused and upset. He looked at Derek as if he'd been betrayed. "You bit Stiles?!"

"Wow," said Liam. "This is even worse than them being gay."

"You thought we were gay?!" Stiles blurted sounding offended.

"You gotta a problem with being gay?" Theo voiced threateningly which surprised himself since he'd never had an interest in either gender until Liam changed that. What surprised him, even more, was that the four other guys in the room looked at him in silence for a moment at the comment. Did he seriously just out himself in front of the person he was gay for? In front of the people he thought were gay and was trying to out them? Wow. He didn't think this through.

Stiles stuttered again. "No. Uh. No," said Stiles catching himself. "I mean I have a problem with myself being gay for Derek but-but-uh you, Theo, can definitely be gay for whoever you want... as long as it's not me."

Theo furrowed his brows at Stiles. "I never said I was gay."

"Neither did I," said Stiles turning to the other boys. "Did I say that Theo was gay? No. I didn't."

"Actually," Liam spoke up and sort of raised his hand. "You didn't say it directly but it was implied."

Stiles glared at Liam with his yellow wolf eyes. "Shut up!" Liam jumped back just because it was kinda freaky seeing Stiles with those yellow eyes. They were all so used to him being the human.

Scott growled. "Why did you bite Stiles?!"

"He was dying!" said Derek. "We were on our way back to my place when Liam called us about the hunters that were here. Those people weren't hunters. They were the pack whose Alpha I killed and they want to kill me-"

"You still haven't explained why you bit my best friend!"

"I'm getting there," Derek said patiently. "When we got here, there was a fight. I told Stiles to hide in the basement but he decided to play hero-"

"I helped though," said Stiles. "Remember that?"

Derek sighed and admitted. "He helped.-"

"I shoved a guy out the window," Stiles said pridefully with a giddy smile at the other boys but the only one who seemed to think it was funny was Liam. Which of course made Stiles stop laughing cause part of him hated Liam for stealing his best friend that jerk.

"And then one of them attacked you," said Derek. "Stiles got hurt so bad that he became delusional."

"You mean he isn't already delusional?" asked Theo sarcastically.

"I scared the pack off and I tried to help Stiles but..." Derek shook his head. "...he was dying-"

"You couldn't take him to the hospital?"

"No..." said Derek. "They wouldn't have been able to help him. It was a mortal wound."

"So you just bit him?" asked Scott.

"I told him to," said Stiles looking at Derek. "I said it was OK. I knew that since he was an Alpha now that he'd be needing a Beta and I knew that I was going to die. I know that last time Derek was an Alpha, he wasn't exactly the best but I think he learned his lesson and I trust him."

"Well..." said Scott. "I trust him too... but... I really wish you guys had told me."

"Scott, I haven't even had my first full moon yet," said Stiles. "It's not like I was gonna call you up right after Derek bit me to let you know. It's kinda a big deal. it needs to be dealt with properly."

"It's just... not fair..." Scott pouted.

"I don't know," said Theo. "Personally, I think that if Stiles has to be a werewolf, then no one is better equipped to deal with his shenanigans than Derek." Again, everyone looked at Theo in silence for a moment. "OK. Am I just not allowed to talk or something or-"

"You're not allowed to be right, Theo," said Stiles. "OK? It's weird. You're the bad guy."

Theo hid it well but his heart clenched at that. He wanted to argue that he was trying... really trying to be a good guy but maybe it was pointless if everyone would always see him as the bad guy. "He's not the bad guy, Stiles." Theo looked over at Liam. He'd spoken up for him. At least Liam knew he was trying. "He's a part of my pack."

"Your pack?" Derek questioned him.

"Yeah," said Liam standing up. "With everyone else gone, I'm the one who has to hold down the fort here at Beacon Hills. I have my own pack and Theo is part of it." Again, there was a moment of intense silence as the rest of the people in the room looked at him. "Maybe you guys don't trust him but I do. And I think that as someone who is a part of this pack, that you should trust me."

Theo and Scott stood from the couch at the same time but Theo and Stiles backed away as they saw Scott, Derek, and Liam wolf out in front of each other. There was a lot of testosterone things going on and Theo and Stiles being the smart guys stayed out of it. Stiles glanced at Theo. "I feel like we should run..."

Theo shook his head as he got a feel for the situation that was going on. "We can't..." He and Stiles shared a look. "We're the Betas." Theo gestured to the three men who looked like they were about to tear each other apart. "They're the Alphas."

Stiles chuckled. "Liam's not..." His expression changed to disbelief as he realized what Theo was saying. "Are you... saying that Liam's your Alpha?"

"Well, it sure as a hell isn't Scott or Derek," Theo muttered under his breath. Theo could feel Stiles staring at him as if he were figuring something out. He looked over at him. "What?"

"Hm. So you and Liam are friends, huh?" Stiles asked casually.

"Uh... Yeah."

"Nice," Stiles bobbed his head up and down. "So do guys like hang ou-"

Theo lept forward and pushed Liam away from the two Alphas in the room. He'd been about to lose it on his own Alpha which wasn't a good sign. "Hey, hey, hey," Theo tried to lull him back to sanity. "It's OK. They don't have to trust me. I don't need them to. I just need you, OK?" Theo couldn't believe he'd uttered the words so easily. And he couldn't believe he'd said them out loud. He just prayed that Liam wouldn't try and read to far into it. He didn't want to have the conversation yet. Or ever.

Liam slowly calmed down and shifted back to his human form, body still flush with Theo's against a solid cold brick wall. Theo kept his eyes trained on Liam's even though his lips were calling out to him. But then he noticed Liam's eyes... They shifted to Theo's mouth. That's when he gave in. He glanced at Liam's lips and Liam totally saw him do it becuase a faint blush crept onto his cheeks.

They simultaneously couldn't take anymore and backed away from each other, turning around and looking at the others. "Liam and I are gonna go. Leave you guys to hash out the details." Before Liam could protest his ride was walking out the door and towards his truck so he scurried after him like a little pup.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen in Liam's room. Someone may or may not be naked at some point.

Theo really just wanted to go to his own bed and sleep or at least try to sleep since he would likely end up awake most of the night due to his mind constantly bringing up the moment he and Liam had had at Derek's place. But Liam was stressing out about a math test he had the next day and insisted that Theo stayed up until he was ready for the test. Knowing Liam, that would be never. So Theo got comfortable.

"So a Z score is like just the standard for the set in the middle, right?" asked Liam. "It's the one in the middle. 0?"

Theo was laying back, head resting on Liam's pillow, fully clothed in his sleepwear which consisted of a pair of Liam's boxers. Theo actually ended up wearing Liam's clothes a lot since he didn't have very many options to chose from and Liam didn't seem to care. At this point, they basically shared a wardrobe. Since Theo had moved in, Liam couldn't think of a school day when Theo hadn't woken him up and then stole some of his clothes before he hopped into the shower.

"Theo!" Liam whined.

Theo groaned and sat up. "Liam, stop stressing out about it. It's just a stupid math test."

"I need a good grade on this math test-"

"If you stop stressing out about it," said Theo. "I can guarantee you will get a good grade. All you've been doing this entire week is study for that math test. I think now you just need to get some rest and not think about it."

Liam let out a whine threw his math book on the floor. "I hate high school." He plopped down on the bed next to Theo with a huff. Their shoulders brushed and their arms laid parallel next to each other. "I can't wait until it's over." Liam covered his eyes with the arm that wasn't touching Theo's and sighed.

Without even thinking about it, Theo's fingers tangled with Liam's. By the time he'd realized what he'd done Liam was already returning the embrace much to his relief. So they laid there in silence... holding hands. Until Theo spoke up. "Then what?"

"Hm?" Liam hummed turning his head to face Theo.

Theo seemed to contemplate something before turning his face to look at Liam. "What are your plans for after high school?" Theo searched Liam's face for answers but the boy stared at him. "You've got your whole life ahead of you, Liam. What do you want to do?" When Liam didn't answer him, Theo just turn his attention back to the ceiling.

"I..." Liam looked at the ceiling too. "I don't know."

"Well..." Theo said rubbing his thumb against Liam's. "Have you given it much thought?"

There was a pause. "Not a lot."

"But a little?"

Theo heard Liam wet his lips before he spoke again, quietly. "I'm not sure what I want to do." There was a moment of silence where Theo nodded. "What do you want to do? Once you graduate, I mean?"

Theo shrugged. His shoulders rubbed against Liam's and he said, "I'm not really sure either."

Liam let out a scoffed that turned Theo's head in his direction. The boy was shaking his head. "How do people even know what they want to do? I mean, everyone else is going off to University and everything and... I'm not sure that's what I want. I just want... well, I don't know what I want."

Theo pursed his lips in consideration of Liam's words. "I hear Hill Valley Community College has good rates on tuition."

"You want to go to Hill Valley?" questioned Liam.

"It seems reasonable to me," said Theo. "Not everyone has to go to Uni. Most universities ask for too much money anyways."

"Maybe we'll go together then," said Liam. "To HVCC. Maybe they'll even hire you as a janitor," Liam joked.

"I don't know. I could always just not go to school and be a janitor at the high school for the rest of my life." They shared a small fit of laughter. "I would like that though."

"Maybe sometime we can go down there together and check it out," said Liam. At this point, Theo was drifting off to sleep. He only responded with a hum before Liam went on. "We could enroll in the fall..." Another hum. "Look for an apartment nearby..." Another hum. "I always thought Mason would be my roommate but he and Corey are planning on renting an apartment together now."

When Liam did receive any sort of response he glanced over at Theo who's lips were slightly parted and his breathing had slowed. He must be asleep. "But that's OK cause Mason snores." Liam glanced down between them where their hands were holding each other. "Why are we holding hands?" He frowned, not at the fact that it was pleasant to hold Theo's hand but the fact that he felt like he couldn't get up and change now. "Now I won't be able to sleep because I have clothes on."

Liam wasn't looking but a smirk grew on Theo's lips as he spoke again thinking Theo was asleep. "I hate wearing clothes while I sleep." That's when Liam felt the body beside him start to shake and he glanced over at Theo who was laughing. "Theo!" Theo's laughter was quiet and breathless, the kind of laughter that could end in a coughing fit if it were taken too far. Liam sat up on his elbows. "You were awake?"

Theo pulled his hand away from Liam and put both of his hands behind his head. "Sorry. I just forgot that you like to sleep in the nude!"

Liam pouted as he stood up pulling his shirt over his head. "It's not a matter of liking it, Theo. It-it's just the way that I am. Like I get really upset if I'm asleep with clothes on. I might kill someone if I sleep with clothes on."

Theo stared at him with an amused smirk. He started to chuckle again covering up his face as he shook his head. "Liam, that's not normal.-"

"I'm not normal! I'm a freakin' werewolf!"

"That has nothing to do with sleeping naked," Theo pointed out face red from laughing at Liam.

"It's just...I can't sleep right if I have clothes on me."

Theo shook his head as Liam stripped the rest of his clothes off right in front of Theo with no shame. Theo was glad his face was red from the laughter so it could hide his blush. "I just don't see what the big deal is about sleeping naked," said Theo as Liam pulled back his covers and climbed in bed.

"You don't have to understand," said Liam adjusting himself so he was comfortable. "Just... let me be naked." Liam looked at Theo who was still grinning at him amused. "Can you do that?"

Theo seemed to contemplate it for a moment. "Yeah. I can do that." Theo stood up from the bed and fluffed the pillow he'd flatted with his fat head.

"Can you turn off the light?" Liam asked.

"Yep," Theo sounded as he walked to the other side of the room and switched the lamp off. Theo shut the door but he didn't leave the room. He actually walked back to the bed and climbed in with Liam. He did it ever so casually as if it were a normal occurrence.

After another moment of awkward silence, Liam spoke up. "Theo?"

"Yes, Liam?"

Anyone would expect him to ask why he'd climbed in bed or why he hadn't gone to his own room but Liam had a different question in mind. "Are those my boxers?"

The was a faint rustling under the sheets before Theo said, "Here. You can have them back," and tossed them at Liam's face.

"Dude!" Liam said throwing the pair of dirty underwear to the floor causing Theo to start laughing again. "Why are you naked?"

Theo smiled brightly and said, "I wanted to see what the big deal was."

Liam scoffed and covered his face with an elbow trying not to laugh at how ridiculous Theo was being. "Oh my god..." he trailed off.

Theo turned to face him still snickering under his breath. "You're right. Sleeping naked is much better than sleeping with clothes on." Theo practically soaked up Liam's embarrassment as if it were water and he hadn't had any in a week. "We should make this a regular thing. We could call it Naked Tuesday."

Finally, Liam started to give in to the laughter. "Actually, Tuesday won't work for me. How about Wednesday?"

"Naked Wednesday it is."

The two boys laughed and joked back and forth until they fell asleep. It was a weird thing to do but that just want they did. It was their thing now apparently. Of course it could always look wrong if anyone else ever walked in on them.


	15. Chapter 15

Theo had made the mistake of assuming he would wake up early like he usually did even after staying up way passed midnight. In fact, he ended up sleeping way longer than he usually did. It might have had something to do with the fact that he was actually sleeping well. He didn't have a single nightmare or even that dreaded anticipation of his nightmares.

Him not waking up meant no one would make up Liam. Which is why David walked into Liam's room posy night shift after he spotted Theo's truck in the driveway when it was supposed to be at school. "Boys?!" he chided at them once he saw the both of them in Liam's bed.

Liam curled up into a ball and groaned at being woken up like he always did and Theo sat up with a jolt. "What? I'm up. I'm up. What?"

David hesitated and cleared his throat. "Um... you're supposed to be at school."

Theo's eyes widened. "Wait. What time is it?"

"It's 10:20," said David.

That's when Liam shot up into a sitting position. "My math test is at 11:00!" Liam rolled off the bed and ran to his dresser pulling out clothes and pulling them on. Theo was about to say something but then Liam started throwing clothes at Theo to put on. "Dude. No time for your fifteen-minute showers, ok?-"

"But-"

"No. You smell great," said Liam. "Just get dressed. We gotta go!"

Theo turned and looked at David who seemed to be eyeing the two boys suspiciously but he started to get dressed just as Liam had ordered him to. "Great," said David as if nothing had phased him and he was starting to leave the room. "Oh. And one more thing." He peered back into the room.

"Yeah?" asked Liam.

"We'll be having a talk when you boys get home," said David gesturing to the bed.

"Well-about what?" asked Liam. Why was he so oblivious to everything? Theo just facepalmed and hid his blush in Liam's comforter.

David just scoffed and left the room. "Get to school!"

**...**

Theo had missed both of his morning classes, the ones he had with Liam but he could still make it to his math class and get in a few hours of work. And luckily, Liam made it to his math test in time too. Otherwise, Theo wouldn't have heard the end of it.

After he sat through math class, he realized it had been kind of pointless because he kept thinking about the night before. He held Liam's hand. They talked about a life after high school... one that they'd probably spend together. He knew all of this was platonic so he tried not to let his hopes get up but he couldn't help it. And then the naked thing happened.

He literally facepalmed in the middle of class when he was thinking about it. Why had he done that? It was so stupid. It's not like it made Liam uncomfortable, at least not to the point that Liam being uncomfortable made Theo feel bad. Just enough to make Theo laugh. But that was only for a little bit. Then they started laughing and sharing stupid little jokes.

Theo bit his lip to keep from smiling at the thought. He loved last night but he hated it. He'd had a lot of intimate moments with Liam which was great but he knew that he was just reading into them too much. He was sure Liam did all this stuff with Mason. Yeah. He should talk to Mason about this.

So when he and Mason should up for the Athletic trainor class and waited for their instructor, he brought up the topic of Liam. "So...you hang out with Liam much lately?" It was a stupid question because Theo was never far behind Liam these days. He would know.

"Uh...yeah," said Mason. "The other night when you guys came over...why? Is he OK?"

Theo hesitated. "No. Yeah. He's fine. Why wouldn't he be?"

"Well cause... you just asked about it," said Mason. "And you're always with Liam so... why would you ask?"

"Just cause I'm sure he misses playing video games with you all the time," said Theo making something up.

Mason sighed and looked at Theo knowingly. "Did Liam put you up to this?"

"What? No," said Theo. Since when was he bad at lying. Right. Since he came back from hell. That's when. Mason raised an eyebrow. "OK. So...you guys are friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"And Liam and I are...also friends."

"Yes."

"So what are some friend things that you guys do?"

Mason shrugged. "Talk. Hang out. Play video games. Go places together. Sometimes have sleepovers." Mason listed.

"Oh. So you know about Liam sleeping naked," Theo concluded smiling.

Mason let out a disappointed whine. "He still does that? I thought he grew out of that."

Theo frowned. "Oh... well, he slept naked last night so I don't think he grew out of it."

"Dang it, Liam. You need help," Mason said to himself as he started to unpack some of the stuff they used for training in the class. "Wait...how do you know he was naked?"

"Cause..." Theo said, blush creeping up to his cheeks which didn't go unnoticed by Mason. "He wasn't wearing any clothes..."

"Oh," said Mason as if that really explained it. "So you saw him naked."

"Yeah. I mean, we share a bathroom. It's not that uncommon," said Theo. There was no way he was going to tell Mason about the fact that he was also naked.

"It's weird, isn't it? I mean. I really think Liam needs to go to therapy and talk to someone about it. The poor girl he's gonna end up with is gonna think he's a nut case."

Theo shrugged nonchalantly as he helped mason unpack things. "I don't know. Don't knock it till you try it. I thought it was stupid too but then..." Wow. He's really lost his touch. Liam was really screwing with his head.

"Then what?"

Ah. Hell. He's already made it this far. Why not? "I tried it. It was nice."

Mason looked at him skeptically. "You tried it?..." Theo didn't respond verbally just with another shrug. "Wow... I think you've officially passed me up on the friend meter. I've never slept with Liam while he was naked. That's true friendship."

Theo glared at him. "We didn't sleep together."

"No? So you were just both hangin' out in your own rooms naked? Sounds legit."

"No..."

"No?"

"OK. So... we kinda slept together."

"Kinda?"

"You guys never did that?"

"NO!" said Mason. "I mean, it was always kind of awkward because I was openly gay and he was... well, not."

"Not openly..."

"Exactly-wait. Do you know something I don't know?" asked Mason.

"Do you?" Mason and Theo made very intense, awkward eye contact before Theo averted his eyes. "Um. I just remembered that I have to go clean something. I'll see you later."

"Wait. Theo-"

"Bye!" And he was gone.

**...**

In the middle of practice, Liam ran over to Mason out of breath. "Hey, where's Theo? Isn't he supposed to be with you?"

"Yeah," said Mason. "But he ran off before our training coach got here and I haven't seen him since."

"Oh," said Liam. "Did he leave? Cause If he did then you have to give me a ride home."

"I think he's still here. He's probably just putting in some hours," said Mason. "But he might get docked pay for skipping training. Not that he missed anything." Mason pointed over to their supposed instructor for the semester who was sleeping on the bench. "Apparently, if one of you guys get hurt, it's up to me, the poorly trained student trainee to fix you up."

Liam sat down on the bench next to Mason and started to dry off some sweat. "So, Theo told me that you're back into your old habits."

Liam paused and looked at him confused. "My what?"

"Dude. Can't you at least wear underwear to bed-"

"Oh my God-He told you?!"

"He told me everything."

"Everything?" asked Liam. "Even about the holding hands?"

Mason deadpanned. "You held hands with Theo?"

Liam's face turned slightly red. "No. We definitely did not do that." Before Mason could get any more information, Liam ran out onto the field.

"Corey is gonna totally freak."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam's parents have an uncomfortable discussion with the boys. Haha ;D.

Theo drove Liam home from school once practice was over. They didn't talk much, just a little bit about school and what happened. Of course, neither of them mentioned Mason. When they walked in the house, Liam's parents were sitting on chairs across from the couch looking at the boys expectantly as they walked in. "Mom? Dad? Is... everything OK?" asked Liam.

Liam's parents glanced at each other before David spoke. "Well, I told you this morning that we were going to have a talk."

Liam groaned. "Seriously? It was just one time."

"Why don't you guys sit down?" said Jenna gesturing to the couch. Liam sat down with a sigh and roll of his eyes and Theo obliged after Liam hesitantly. "So, David talked to me about what he found when he got home after his night shift-"

"It was a mistake," said Liam. "OK? I mean, everybody sleeps in at some point. Does it really require a lecture?"

David silently looked at Liam and then at Theo who's body language seemed rather submissive under the scrutiny. He'd definitely changed after going through hell. The old Theo would've starred him in the eye and took him on quite verbally. But now Theo struggled to maintain eye contact and... he actually wanted to run away. David must've noticed cause he turned his attention back to Liam and tried to eased his features to comfort the older boy. "We're not talking about that.-"

"Although," said Jenna. "We don't want that to become a regular thing either.-"

"It's not a regular thing," said Liam. "I made Theo stay up late studying with me and we slept in on accident."

"Liam, we're not talking about the sleeping in part," said David firmly. "We want to talk to about..." His voice caught as if he was having a hard time broaching the subject. But Theo seemed to know where he was going because he facepalmed and let out an aggravated sigh.

"About what?" asked Liam.

"Dude," said Theo fed up with his obliviousness. "Why are you so blind?!-"

"Theo," Jenna warned signaling him to calm down. Theo took a deep breath and let his shoulders relax.

Liam looked between Theo and his parents confused. "What...are you guys talking about?"

Jenna sighed. "Well, David had mentioned that Theo spent the night in your room..." she paused awkwardly before continuing. "...and that neither of you were wearing any clothes. And that suggests that-"

"Nothing happened," Theo interrupted. His heart was racing at this point though.

"Wait..." said Liam. "Are you guys seriously trying to give us the 'safe sex' talk?"

"Liam, it's OK if something happened last night-"

"It didn't," Liam said bluntly.

"-and it's OK if something happens later on," said Jenna. "We just want you guys to be safe."

At this point, Liam and Theo's faces were both priceless. Liam looked very uncomfortable and almost constipated and Theo seemed as if he'd just gotten the chills but was frozen in one place, stiff. "But..." said Liam. "...nothing happened."

"Maybe nothing happened," said David pulling out a box that he'd had hidden behind him. Theo was about to speak up but choked when David placed the box in his lap and he saw what was inside. "But...this has brought your mother and I some concern about the issue-"

"Really?" asked Theo pulling out a small plastic square. "XXL? I think Liam's more of an XS kinda guy," said Theo resorting to his default, sarcasm. The room went silent and everyone looked at Theo who had a completely serious look on his face. Theo glanced between everyone before he clarified. "That was a joke." Some of the tension left and he still wondered. "But seriously? What? Are these werewolf sized-"

"Theo, you're not helping," Liam hissed through his teeth. Theo pinched his lips together frustrated and shoved the box into Liam's lap begrudgingly. "I don't want it," said Liam shoving it back.

Theo tossed it into his lap. "Me either-"

"No, you take it," said Liam egging on the game of hot potato. This went on for a good ten second before Jenna ripped it out of their hands.

"OK. Fine," said Jenna. "How about this? We keep it and anytime either of you need it, you have to ask one of us."

"I'll take it," said Liam taking it out of his mom's hands. Theo glared at him and Liam shrugged. "What? I'm a growing boy and sometimes things happen. I was just gonna put it in our bathroom. It doesn't mean anything."

"Look, boys," said David cutting Lima off. "It doesn't matter who you're with. We just decided that Jenna and I had waited a bit too long to equip Liam with the proper safety measures-"

"Is this what it's like to have parents who care?" asked Theo him. "Cause I gotta be honest. When it comes to this, I very much preferred the way that the dread doctors did it."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Which was how?"

"They just didn't," said Theo. "It wasn't part of my training or anything so they didn't need to."

"Oh," said Liam uncomfortably. "So do you like not even know anything abou-"

"I went to school, Liam. I think I figured things out." Theo bit his lip as he thought. "Well, most of it anyways."

David cleared his throat. "Well, if you ever have any questions you can always talk to-"

"Nononono," said Theo defensively. "Not about like the logistics or anything. Nonono. I could figure that out based on the dirty jokes alone. No. It was like a-uh-a 'me' thing. I mean... yeah. A personal... thing." Theo's face turned a frightening shade of red. He just wished he would stop talking already.

"Well if you-"

"I'm not gonna talk about it," said Theo. Jenna opened her mouth and he silenced her again. "With anyone."

"OK, then," she said trying to be understanding. She knew he wouldn't want to talk to her about everything. "I think that's all we wanted to talk about. Dinner will be ready in about an hour so you can go upstairs and get working on homework or whatever it is you need to do."

David sighed. "I'm sorry this was uncomfortable. I didn't want to... make this hard but...-"

"I don't think there's an easy way to have this conversation," said Theo as Liam got up and stormed upstairs. "It's fine. I understand. And I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression about what you saw. We were just being stupid teenagers."

David shrugged. "I understand. It's OK to be teenagers sometimes." He shook Theo's shoulder a bit and smiled. "Don't sweat it, kiddo." But all Theo could think about at that moment though was the fact that we was sweating... a lot.

Theo nodded before getting up and going upstairs. He needed to take a nice cold shower and get his mind off of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter that I have written ahead of time. I'm not sure how many more I will be doing. Just until everything is settled which shouldn't be much longer. Updates might be a little bit slower at this point, but not too much. I'll be out of town all Friday and Saturday so nothing will happen then unless I have things pre-written. Hopefully, I will find time to do that even though I'm swamped with all kinds of school things, graduation, and work stuff.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo and Liam talk about a few things while they go on a car trip.

Hill Valley wasn't that far away from Beacon Hills. It was a little under an hour from Liam's house. The boys had found a day that would work well for them to have a tour of the College campus there and learn a few more things about it. They were gonna spend most of the day around there, maybe try and get a feel for the small college town.

"So, have you heard much from Scott?" Theo asked, uncomfortable with the silence. Normally, the silence wasn't uncomfortable but he and Liam hadn't talked since the little meeting they'd had with Liam's parents.

Liam shrugged as he fiddled with his sleeves in his fingers. "Not much. Just that he and Derek have come to an agreement. Some sort of partnership or... alliance. I don't know."

"So what? Like two packs working together as one?"

"I guess," said Liam.

"..." Theo hated that silence. It made him anxious. "What about Stiles?"

"What about Stiles?"

"Is he adjusting well to the new... lifestyle?" Theo's lips curled up and he glanced at Liam.

Liam chuckled at the word lifestyle which caused some of the tension to pass. "I think he's doing OK. It's probably cause he's seen it all happen to so many people before. He just knows what to expect. That and he has two Alphas at his side 24/7."

"I bet there's a lot of competition between Derek and Scott now. They just both want Stiles for themselves," said Theo. "It's kinda pointless though because there's a huge difference between being someone's Alpha and being someone's friend. Scott is Stiles's best friend. And I can understand that it would be hard for him to accept that someone else turned him but no matter what Scott and Stiles will always be best friends. They always have been."

Liam was now leaning against the passager door and watching Theo as he spoke. "Yeah. That's a bond that no one can break." Theo turned and sent one of those smiles at Liam again. (Seriously, why is Theo so cute when he smiles?) "Hey, so the other night...?"

"Uh huh?"

"You said that there was this thing..." Liam started and was really hoping Theo would finish for him but the car was filled with silence again. "A 'me' thing, a personal thing."

Theo bit his lip before admitting, "Yeah. I did say that, didn't I?"

"I mean... is it too personal to tell me?" asked Liam.

"I haven't figured it out yet," said Theo impatiently ringing his hands around the steering wheel.

"Do you... need to talk about it?" asked Liam. "I know sometimes talking about it to parents can be hard. I just want to be like... a confidante for you, you know?" Even after that, Theo still seemed to contemplate sharing anything with Liam. "You can trust that I won't ever tell anyone if you don't want me to.-"

"It's not necessarily that I don't trust you, Liam," said Theo doubtfully. "It's just... not easy to talk about because I haven't even given it much thought until recently."

"OK," said Liam. "I can just listen to what you have to say and be like... a sounding board. I can help you sort out your thoughts. Come on, we've got all day to do this. Just the two of us."

Theo kept glancing over at Liam and licking his lips in thought. He sighed and decided that he owed it to Liam. "Fine," he agreed. Theo shifted in his seat uncomfortably before he spoke up. "It's just... I've never actually been in a romantic relationship. The closest thing was probably when I made out with Tracey but I killed her... just right there, in the middle of it." Theo shook his head, disgusted with the person he used to be. "It's just that... being in an intimate relationship was never an option for me. Now it is and I have no idea how to go about any of it," admitted Theo. "I... I've been thinking about one thing a lot more than anything else. It's just something that came up. I don't know. It's probably not a big deal."

Liam still sat patiently listening to his companion. "What's not a big deal?"

"I don't even know if it is a thing yet, though," said Theo. "I mean..." Theo groaned shaking his head. "Why is this so freakin' hard, Liam?"

Liam took a deep breath and exhaled. "The other day when we were at Derek's there was a moment when you got defensive..." Liam looked at Theo trying to get  a feel for his reaction. Theo just nodded and cringed biting his lip anxiously. "Well, it's OK to be gay, Theo."

Theo let out a pent-up breath he had no idea he was holding in. That must've been it. That must've been what Theo was trying to hard to say but didn't even know what he was trying to say. "What gave it away?"

"I mean, we did sleep together and we held hands for a long time before that," said Liam. "Can't get much gayer than that. I mean, Mason isn't even that gay and I think I always knew Mason was gay."

"Did you always know for me?" Now Theo was getting upset. "Liam, how could you keep something like that from me? I've been trying to figure this thing out ever since I came back and you're just now telling me?"

"Actually, I didn't really notice until just a few seconds ago," said Liam. "And then it all clicked into place." He even hit himself on the head to emphasize his point. "It's moments like these when I feel really stupid." Theo ran his hand through his hair completely stressed out but Liam placed a hand on his arm to comfort him. "Relax, man. You just did the hard part. You came out. Now we just need to go celebrate or something-"

"People celebrate this kind of thing?"

"Well, I don't know," said Liam. "But we can. I mean, you just told me one of your darkest secrets. I think this calls for some ice cream. Plus I just really want some ice cream."

"I don't want to have ice cream."

"What do you have against ice cream-"

"Nothing. I just... I don't feel... good.-"

"What? Like are you sick?"

"No. I just don't want to be... this way," said Theo voice trailing off into sadness. "I just want to be like everyone else, you know?" Liam could hear the sadness in his voice. There were even tears in Theo's eyes and it made Liam's heartache. "That's all I ever wanted but somehow I just keep getting more and more different. First, I was always that kid with no parents. Then I was the kid who murdered his sister. I was turned into a Chimera. Ever since then I've always been the bad guy. I even went to hell! And for some reason, I'm back and this time a freakin' gay?! Why can't I just have a normal life? Is that too much to ask?"

"And why is you being gay a bad thing?" asked Liam sincerely.

"Because..." said Theo. It's not like he could just admit that he had feelings for Liam. "It's just is OK. I just don't want to be."

"What if I just want ice cream then?" Liam hissed. "Is that too much to ask?"

"Calm your tits, Liam," bit Theo. "You'll get your freakin' ice cream!" Somehow, in the midst of their bickering, Liam had gotten a hold of Theo's hand and laced their fingers together without Theo's knowledge.

"Good," Liam bit back. Theo's eyes were drawn to Liam's hand; it was holding his. Why? He glanced at Liam who was resting back against the seat with his eyes closed. Glancing at their hands and Liam's face, Theo heard Liam mumble, "Eyes on the road, Raeken."

Theo looked back at the road and swerved a bit so he was in the correct lane before questioning how Liam knew he wasn't watching where he was going if his eyes were closed. But the gentle squeeze on his hand told him not to worry about it and just drive. So he took the next exit that went into the small college town of Hill Valley. It brought up memories of when they'd been the decoys together at the zoo. Theo smiled at the thought of knocking angry Liam out five times as they drove by the zoo.

But he continued on until they came up to a large brick sign that ready "Hill Valley Community College." Theo pulled in and parked right in front of the building taking his hand away from Liam's to do so. The parking lot was surprisingly vacant but it was later in the day than most classes took place. Theo turned the car off looked over at Liam. "We're here."

"So now what?" asked Liam leaning on the console between them.

"Uh... we go inside," said Theo unbuckling himself and putting his hand on the door handle. Liam sent him a look saying that's not what he meant. "Are you still thinking about the ice cream? Cause I'll get you some on the way home."

Liam groaned angrily unbuckling his seatbelt and sitting up on his knees. "I'm not talking about the ice cream!" He leaned over the consol and towards Theo.

Theo flinched at Liam's sudden outburst. He put his hands up in defense. "Then what are you-" Theo was silenced when Liam crashed his lips into Theo's without warning. After what seemed like a forced kiss had ended Liam pulled back and they stared at each other, Theo more questioningly and confused than Liam. Apparently, Liam knew what he was doing because he wasn't lacking the confidence that Theo was. The poor Chimera looked like someone had pulled out Kira's sword and threatened to send him back to hell, like he'd seen a ghost.

"That," said Liam still leaning over the console merely inches away from Theo's face. "That's what I was thinking about."

"Wha..." Theo swallowed nervously, almost feeling attacked. "Why?"

"Cause maybe you're not as different as you think you are," said Liam quietly. He placed a hand on Theo's chest bringing to the other boy's attention that he was almost hyperventilating. Slowly, Theo's breathing normalized and the fear that he was emitting just moments before dissipated. He let his body relax, no longer tense from having another person so close to his space. Liam's fingers tightened around Theo's shirt and pulled him in closer.

Theo did the rest of the work, leaning forward and kissing him. There weren't even words to describe what happened in that kiss. There was passion, curiosity, and still familiarity. It made Theo feel like everything was always going to be ok. As long as Liam was there with him, he would be ok. Finally, after a few seconds of testing the waters, they pulled back. Theo had that beautiful smile again and even a sparkle in his eye. "Well, now what?" Theo asked breathlessly. 

Liam shrugged looking out the windshield. "Uh. We get out of the car."

Theo pulled the keys out of the ignition. "Good plan," said Theo still processing what was happening as he opened the door. He hopped onto the ground and took in a deep breath before turning back around to look at Liam still sitting in the passenger seat. He exhaled relaxing against the side of his truck giving Liam an expectant look.

"What?" Liam whispered.

Theo shook his head and shrugged. "I just... I don't know what..." He gestured between the two of them and sighed. "...this is.-"

"We're still friends," said Liam.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "I'm no expert on friendship but what we just did wasn't really friendly," he quipped bitterly.

Liam interrupted his argument, because let's be honest. Theo and Liam will always argue. "How about we talk about this after we take the tour so we're not late, huh?"

Theo frowned and didn't respond verbally. He just closed the door and waited for Liam to get out of the car. Once he was out, he locked the doors and made his way towards the entrance. He felt something tug at his hand and he spun around just in time for Liam to plant another kiss on him. Again, Theo was stunned. He pulled back confused. "OK. What is going on?"

"I'm experimenting," Liam admitted.

"Can it wait half an hour?" Asked Theo impatiently. "It's very distracting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. So I never knew where I was going with this but we'll leave it there for now. It's not the end but it's nearing the end. I'm open to requests so please hit me up.
> 
> Thanks 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo and Liam talk about about stuff again.

Theo and Liam followed their tour guide around the relatively small campus. Around back there was a new building being constructed. It was going to be the vocational training building. It would supposedly be finished in one month. It sparked Theo interest when she mentioned that there would be a carpentry program starting in the fall.

She continued to walk them around the campus and show them where everything was until they got back to where they'd started. "I hope the tour was satisfactory." She handed each of them a small stack of little booklets and papers. "There's a list of club activities, sports games, and events on the top page. In the booklet is our course and degree catalog with all of our contacts. Should I make a quick run to the printers and get you applications? It couldn't hurt to apply."

Liam clumsily dropped one of his papers on the ground and cursed causing Theo to shake his head in sympathetic shame. "Yeah. That would be great. Could I get some of those financial aid forms as well?"

"Actually," she said. "The financial aid process starts online after you're an enrolled student. But I will get you contact information for the financial aid office in case you have any questions." She quickly moved down the hall and disappeared into an office.

Liam was fanning through the booklet and glanced at a few of the offered degrees and courses. "So, what do you think?" asked Theo grinning at him.

Liam didn't look up until he'd finished glancing through the booklet and the small stack of pamphlets they'd received. "I think it sounds like the best option I have right now. I mean, I have no idea what I want to do. There's no way I want to go to University unsure of myself." Theo bobbed his head in understanding and looked at the pamphlet about the new expansion of the campus. Liam smiled knowingly and chuckled.

"What?"

"Who would have guessed you have a secret love for carpentry?" Liam jested.

Theo smiled shyly and rolled his eyes. "It's the one thing the doctors didn't taint. Everything else was turned into a test. I guess I just want to get as far away from those memories as possible."

"I thought you liked biology?"

Theo shrugged. "I do but I don't want to spend four to six more years in school just to get a career in biology. I prefer a more kinesthetic way of learning. But I'll always have soft spot for punnet squares."

**...**

After they received the rest of their paperwork, they made their way back to Theo's truck. "You still hungry for ice cream?" Theo asked before he started the car.

Liam smiled at Theo as he buckled. "There's never a bad time for ice cream."

With that Theo was backing out of the school parking lot and searching around the small town for a place that sold ice cream until Liam pointed one out. He pulled in and parked. A few minutes later, he came back with an ice cream cone. He handed it to Liam. "Here you go."

Liam took it. "You didn't get one?"

Theo shook his head. "No. I...I had an experience once...with ice cream." Theo was looking off into the distance and he shook his head. "I don't want to go there again."

"Really? Like a bad experience?" asked Liam.

Theo sent him an incredulous look. "No. I just hate reliving joyous moments. Yes, a bad experience."

"Oh," said Liam dumbly as he started to wolf down his ice cream. "What about earlier? Was that a bad experience?"

Theo had been about to put his keys in the ignition and dropped them. "What?"

"When we made out," Liam clarified, not that he really needed to. "Was that a bad experience?"

Theo reached down and grabbed his keys sighing. "That depends." He and Liam made eye contact and he answered sincerely. "Did you do that because you might have feelings for me or were you just 'experimenting'? Cause I think I've experimented on enough and if that's the case, then yeah. It was a bad experience-"

"I love you, Theo," Liam blurted out. Immediately afterward, he covered his mouth apparently surprised with himself.

Theo froze. "What?"

"What?"

The two young men stared at each other for a moment in silence. "Did you just say-"

"I didn't say anything," Liam blurted again this time his heart skipped a beat. But he was still going to deny it. Theo held his breath for a moment, confused before he let it go and started the car. Before Theo could put the car into drive, Liam grabbed his hand. "Wait." Theo turned his head to look Liam in the eyes. "There were... feelings, OK? I don't know what they were but... I mean I felt things. I just don't know what they were."

"What kind of feelings?" asked Theo after he took a deep breath.

Liam shrugged. "Scary ones." He swallowed and took a pause to think things over. "But... it's a good scary."

Theo looked into Liam's eyes and saw the earnesty. It looked like Liam was just as unsure of himself at Theo was. He glanced at Liam ice cream cone before saying, "It's about to drip."

Liam furrowed his brows in utter confusion. "Wh-what?"

Theo pointed at Liam's cone. "Your ice cream." Liam startled and brought the cone up to his mouth to lick up the sticky, white substance that was running down his head. The image made Theo's mouth start to water and it definitely wasn't because of the ice cream.

As Liam licked at his ice cream cone and wiped the sticky substance on his pants, Theo swallowed anxiously as he debated on what he was going to do. Liam turned his head and noticed Theo staring at him, mouth slightly agape. He pulled the ice cream cone back down leaving a small dribble on his chin. "What?"

Theo turned to look out the window as he hesitated to do what he was going to do. "You know what? Skrew it." He held down a button underneath his window and Liam's window started to roll down.

"Theo, what are you-" Once the window was down, Theo ripped Liam's ice cream cone out of his hand and threw it out the window. Liam let out a whine and started to protest but Theo shut him up before he even said anything. He crashed his lips against Liam in an open kiss. Since Liam's mouth was already open from trying to speak, Theo didn't even have to wait for permission. He slid his tongue into Liam's mouth and kissed him deeply. At first, Liam was stiff but once the surprise wore off, he relaxed into the kiss with a moan that made Theo's head spin.

The kiss slowed until it came to a stop and they pulled back from each other. Liam's lips turned up into a smile. "I thought you didn't like ice cream?"

Theo swallowed slightly breathless from the kiss and shrugged. "Yeah. Well, I don't like the hospital either and for some reason, I followed you in there twice just to save your ass." They both had a good laugh at that. "I end up doing a lot of things I don't like because of you."

Liam touched their noses together and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Theo shook his head and pursed his lips out just so they were ghosting over Liam's but not actually kissing him. "No. Don't be, Liam. I'd do anything for you."

Liam closed the distance between them again with another kiss. Theo held his at his sides and returned the kiss fervently. Waves of relief and affection poured off of him. He received a small tug on his shirt trying to pull him closer but the stupid console got in the way and he pulled back. Liam glanced at his back seat. "We could go back there."

Theo scoffed. "As much as I have dreamed about us doing it in the back seat of my truck, I don't think that's a good idea to go there in a public parking lot."

Liam sighed disappointed before he nodded in reluctant agreement. "Yeah. I guess you're right. So...uh...do we just go home now?"

Theo backed out of his parking spot in response but didn't let the silence last very long. "What are we going to tell your parents?"

Liam scratched his chin and made a sound of annoyance. "I don't know. The truth I guess. I mean it could be worse."

"It would be better than lying to them," said Theo. He furrowed his brows at his own words. "Wow. I don't I've ever said anything like that ever in my life." His self-loathing comment lightened the mood and Liam chuckled. "I guess I've come a long way."

"Yeah," said Liam smiling at him proudly. "You went from being the biggest jerk in the universe to helping out my pack, then helping out my parents, and now... now... you have feelings. That's basically a 360. You're officially not a bad guy anymore. Theo Raeken, the good guy. How does it feel?"

Theo exhaled and shook his head. "Being a good guy is scary."

Liam chuckled. "Yeah. You can say that again."

"But... I can't think of a time I wasn't afraid before I came back," said Theo getting serious. "I-I didn't know it then because I hadn't known what it felt like to be safe. But I was constantly living in fear. Always terrified and now... now I have a normal life. Well, as normal of a life that I could ever get. Now I know what it's like to receive things that you don't deserve just because someone... cares about you."

Theo glanced at Liam with a sad smile. "I owe you and your family everything for taking me in. I still struggle with accepting it without questioning it or thinking I have to return the favor but deep down in my heart..." Theo's voice hitched at that word. He felt his heart start beating in his chest violently and his eyes began to water. "...deep down I know that I don't owe you guys anything." He voice cracked. "But I want to give you everything..." He sniffled and wiped a stray tear. "...because I'm grateful."

Liam took Theo's hand in his and smiled. There wasn't really anything he could say at this point so he just kissed Theo's hand and laced their fingers together. Neither of them were sure about themselves but there was one thing they were sure of and that was that they cared deeply about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when my next update will be or if I'll just leave it there. Hope you like it.
> 
> Here's what I think I might do. Maybe I will leave it there but do a time skip, like to them going to college or something like that or leaving to go to college and like stuff like that. And also, maybe I'll make Sterek a thing. At first, I really didn't want to do Sterek because I wanted to make it as canon as I could but I totally failed haha. But I still ship them.
> 
> So let me know what you think. Should I do the time skip or nah? I think I might cause now I really want to. Or is there something I'm forgetting?
> 
> LUV YA
> 
> THANKS :)


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